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Lot 17

Beaked Battlehammer Club, Fiji Islands

13 November 2018, 11:00 EST
New York

Sold for US$6,250 inc. premium

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Beaked Battlehammer Club, Fiji Islands

totokia
height 39 1/2in (100.3cm)

Provenance
Wayne Heathcote
American Private Collection, acquired in 1993

Of classic and unique Fijian form in hard wood with a solid cylindrical shaft slightly curved and supporting a head with a bunch of protruding points and terminating with a conical point; fine glossy reddish brown patina.

According to Cluny (Yalo I Viti, 1986: p. 185), "With its heavy, swollen head, and the concentration of its impact on the point of its beak, the totokia was intended to 'peck' holes in the skull. Shortest and most specialised of clubs, it delivered a deadly blow in an abrupt but vicious stab, not requiring the wide swinging arc demanded by others."

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