Fijian ‘Buli Buli’ War Club the Expanding Spherical Head
A Rare Fijian ‘Buli Buli’ War Club the Expanding Spherical Head Carefully Carved from a Ball of Rootlets Forming Regularly Spaced Raised Studs
A series of dots down the shaft probably indicating successful combat strikes
Fine smooth silky patina
Late 18th – Early 19th Century
Size: 80cm long – 31½ ins long
See: Finch & Co catalogue no. 12, item no. 96, for another example
A series of dots down the shaft probably indicating successful combat strikes
Fine smooth silky patina
Late 18th – Early 19th Century
Size: 80cm long – 31½ ins long
See: Finch & Co catalogue no. 12, item no. 96, for another example
Comparable to a European mace, clubs such as this were designed to inflict a lethal crushing blow to the head. To slay an enemy with a club at close quarters brought more prestige than any other form of combat and earned the warrior the coveted status of ‘Koroi’ or killer. Like the swords of medieval Europe and Japan, Fijian clubs were often given individual names referring to their destructive powers. In 1858 the missionary Thomas Williams wrote ‘…those clubs which belong to distinguished warriors have emphatic names… Kadiga Ni Damuni, Damaging beyond Hope… Na Tagi Ka Kere Bole, The Weeping (for the Dead I Slew).’
Fijian ‘Buli Buli’ War Club the Expanding Spherical Head
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