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Originally Posted by RSWORD
Thanks for the picture from the net. Interesting that it has carved wooden protrusions at the top of the club. Would the bent nails grouped in a ball be in imitation of this?
Yes, the club is quite dry and has a lot of age splits and cracks. Is this from salt spray? Could be. The cowrie shells are quite bleached so they have had a lot if exposure to the sun at one time. The dry wood could also be fro change of climates, storage conditions, etc. it just seems quite old to me. Not sure it would be worth treating the wood at this time.
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Most likely the iron nails etc are just to provide a more effective striking area, rather than an imitation of the woodcarving...but who knows ?
I have a copy of a useful little book "The Art of Tahiti" by Terence Barrow 1979 - it has a section on the Austral Islands, and I attach an extract which seems relevant.
Can you tell me from where the club was sourced, was it locally in the USA ?
Regards.