Clubs

War Clubs from the Island of New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu & all the Islands of Polynesia; Fiji, Samoa, Tonga & The Marquesas all made & used clubs as weapons used in warfare but this was only a small part of their history & use. Clubs were made by specialists who could not only carve an object of beautiful form but also elaborately decorate them with incised clan designs and imbue them with the spiritual power of their ancestors.

Clubs come in many shapes & sizes and their use is widespread as almost every man owned a club, in pre-European times a man always carried his club with him everywhere in case of attack by adversaries.  A club was also a symbol of power & prestige and old clubs gained spiritual power or Mana over time & significant oral histories were attached to heirloom clubs.  

I personally love the huge variation of forms of the Clubs of Melanesia Polynesia & Micronesia, each beautiful in their own way but when grouped together looking at them just a sculptural form they are stunning. I refer to my collection of Clubs as a flock of “Brancusi Birds “    

Please have a look at my new Exhibitions Gallery https://www.oceanicartsaustralia.com/exhibition-and-publications/