Big Samoan Povai Club
 

Went mad and got this very nice club. 1.850kg so hard to stop once moving, smash bones. 119cm long. Nice patina, beautifully carved but you need it in your hand to feel that. Made me do some digging and found picture of Samoan Civil war, pictures in the PDF link. Which I am sure we will all enjoy viewing.

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/pdf/OPAC/264952.pdf

Also a link to a NZ museum with info on square Povai clubs.

http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/te...d13-d1-d3.html

Congrats on a very nice item Tim. The PDF you liked was a fascinating read as well. Thanks for posting it!

Best,

Iain

CONGRADULATIONS A VERY NICE CLUB AND A TYPE I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH FROM SAMOA. :)
IT GOT ME INTERESTED TO SEE IF ANY OF THE FIJI CLUBS HAD FOUR SIDES. FERGUS CLUNIE SUGGESTED THE POLE CLUB OR BILLET LIKE FORM ORIGINATED IN TONGA AND IT WAS CALLED POVAI THERE.
THE FORM IS REFERRED TO IN FIJI AS BOWAI BUT I SUSPECT THE PRONUNCIATION IS VERY SIMULAR. IN CLUNIES BOOK NONE OF THE POLE CLUBS FROM FIJI HAD FOUR SIDES BUT WERE ROUND WITH VARIATIONS TO SIZE AND FORM SUCH AS DOMED OR FLAT STRIKING END AND STRAIGHT OR FLARED AT THE GRIP. IT WAS NOTED THAT SOME CLUBS WERE CALLED AFTER THE TYPE OF WOOD USED TO MAKE THEM. THE CLUBS WITH A FLARED HANDLE WERE REFERRED TO AS BOWAI AND THE ONES WITH STRAIGHT HANDLES AS GADI (WHICH IS A TYPE OF WOOD)

Tim

Nice pick up. Looks heavy...