Peruvian/Inca war club?

[ashoka]

Looks great to me. Patina and wear is as you would expect, at one point it has been totally cleaned chemically of all the original patina and then aquired another old one. To me it looks as if one spike was damaged a long time ago, presumably on the crest of Pizarro's helmet, and subsequently was cut off to make it look 'neater' not the first time I have seen this. Obviously a long time ago as it is not a sharp cut but worn. It appears to be made from porous cast and hammered copper which again I think is what you'd expect although it's not really my dept. Nice thing!

[stekemest]

Thank you all for your opinions. The metal seems to be a bit brighter where the spike is broken, so perhaps it was indeed once sawed off.
Is there any person/insitution where it could be appraised first-hand (and not too expensively so?). It is certainly not worth a lot, even if real, but I love everything pre-columbian and this piece just feels "good".

[ashoka]

There are many in museums, but your best bet is probably just comparing them to ones online, and in good museum collections. I see no reason at all to think there is anything doubtful about it. The fact that it is cast copper speaks volumes, and the aged marks/surface on it is pretty evident. Apparantly they made them out of many materials, stone, metal even gold. A holiday to Peru and visit to the relevant authorities in the National Museum should confirm

[stekemest]

A holiday to Peru and visit to the relevant authorities in the National Museum should confirm

Not cheap from Germany to Peru.
Thank you very much.

[Tim Simmons]

It may have been so porous at the time of casting that it was finished this way? There does not seem to be any signs of cutting with a metal saw or mechanical grinding? In the past collectors have been vandals it is possible that somebody cut the spike off so it would stand on edge?

[stekemest]

I will try to make better pictures of the broken part.

[Tim Simmons]

Hamburg has a great collection of Peruvian art.

[ashoka]

Interesting but slightly irrelevant to focus on what tool has cut off the point, it's clearly been cut off, you can see the burr along the edge, presumably some very sharp knife or tool. It also looks to me from the photos as if the same cut appears to have taken off a sliver off the side tip of another spike when it was done, in the same alignment. Copper is very soft especially with this amount of porosity, you could probably cut through it with a kitchen knife. You can also see the wear marks on the surface go up to and beyond the cut so this has tidied up after it's life usage,maybe by the same hooligan who soaked it in vinegar or something to remove the green patination. It's interesting to see the cross section of one of these actually and how porous it was, hammering and working the surface would have the double effect of creating a solid surface and also work-hardening the copper to make it harder, an effect utilised by man on tools and weapons since the copper/bronze age. Also looks like once it had been cleaned it was varnished, this was commonly done to ancient bronze stuff by museums and collectors in the 19th century, at least in the UK, so I'm guessing that was when it was done

Originally Posted by stekemest

I will try to make better pictures of the broken part.