Fijian Throwing Club ‘I Ula Tavatava’ with Decorated Grip
A Pacific Fijian Throwing Club ‘I Ula Tavatava’ with Decorated Grip
Smooth Glossy Patina
19th Century
Size: 42.5cm high – 16¾ ins high
See: Finch & Co catalogue no. 13, item no. 118, for another example
Smooth Glossy Patina
19th Century
Size: 42.5cm high – 16¾ ins high
See: Finch & Co catalogue no. 13, item no. 118, for another example
Fijian warriors regarded their weapons not just as a tool for killing an enemy, but also as valuable commodities, and as powerful symbols of authority and masculinity. A weapon represented the sanction of the ancestral gods, and a club that had shed blood demonstrated its ‘mana’, its supernatural effectiveness to perform the task for which it was made.
In 1884 the missionary Reverend Thomas Williams wrote regarding the ula ‘another weapon much used is the missile club, which is worn in the girdle sometimes in pairs like pistols… This is hurled with great precision and used formerly to be the favourite implement of assassination’ (Rev. T. Williams; Fiji and the Fijians, Pg 47)
In 1884 the missionary Reverend Thomas Williams wrote regarding the ula ‘another weapon much used is the missile club, which is worn in the girdle sometimes in pairs like pistols… This is hurled with great precision and used formerly to be the favourite implement of assassination’ (Rev. T. Williams; Fiji and the Fijians, Pg 47)
Fijian Throwing Club ‘I Ula Tavatava’ with Decorated Grip
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