Maori Hand Club, New Zealand
kotiate
height 12 1/2in (31.8cm)
Wood
Provenance:
Captain J.C. Carr Ellison, Powburn, Northumberland, England by 1907
Harry G. Beasley, Sunningdale, by inheritance from the above
John J. Klejman, New York
Morton and Estelle Sosland, Kansas City
Exhibited:
Hancock Museum, Newcastle, 1907
"Kotiate literally means 'cut liver'
and describes the shape of this club. All Maori short clubs are used as thrusting weapons in close infighting. After a blow to the temple the notches at the side were used, which, by a twist, lifted off the top of a skull. A chief carrying such a weapon would often challenge the opposing chief to single combat. The first to get in three blows won the duel and often the war." (Mead, 1985: cat. 96)
