STAFF

[thinreadline]

Also from out of my loft and also bought in Weller & Dufty's in the 1980s is this carved staff , I have always thought of it as a Pacific Islands item but would welcome your comments . It is approx 140 cm long.

[David]

hmmm...that's a beautiful item and i can see why you think it may be of South Pacific origin.
I will also say that given it's form it looks more like a fighting staff than simply something to aid in walking or for ceremony. So i wonder if this is not better suited for the Ethno forum than Miscellaneous. But i have no knowledge of fighting staffs from the South Seas, or for that matter, any where else, so it hard to say how to categorize it. Still a seriously nice and collectable bit of carving. :)

[colin henshaw]

A nice Maori staff, either an "orator's staff" or just to be carried by older men.

[thinreadline]

hmmm...that's a beautiful item and i can see why you think it may be of South Pacific origin.
I will also say that given it's form it looks more like a fighting staff than simply something to aid in walking or for ceremony. So i wonder if this is not better suited for the Ethno forum than Miscellaneous. But i have no knowledge of fighting staffs from the South Seas, or for that matter, any where else, so it hard to say how to categorize it. Still a seriously nice and collectable bit of carving. :)

Thank you David ... I wasnt sure which category to put it in I must admit. Though it does have some weight to it and the fact that it is pointed made me consider that it could be a weapon .

[thinreadline]

A nice Maori staff, either an "orator's staff" or just to be carried by older men.

Interesting , thank you Colin