Fijian Hardwood Warrior’s Throwing Club ‘I Ula Drisia’

An Unusual Oceanic Fijian Hardwood Warrior’s Throwing Club ‘I Ula Drisia’ a Human Tooth Embedded in the Top

Size: 40cm long - 15¾ ins long 
An Unusual Oceanic Fijian Hardwood Warrior’s Throwing Club ‘I Ula Drisia’ a Human Tooth Embedded in the Top

Size: 40cm long - 15¾ ins long
The Fijian warriors’ most personal weapon, the ula, was formed from the specially trained buttress root of a hardwood tree sapling. The missile club was worn stuck in the girdle, sometimes in pairs like European pistols. A tally of kills would be kept by nicking or notching the upper neck of the handle and Baron Von Hugel remarked on one he had collected at Sagunu in 1876 ‘there are 50 notches in it and the chief assured me it is the register of people it has killed. On my doubting it he got quite angry, and assured me that it was ‘edina, edina sara’ and so I fancy there may be some truth in it, especially as I had great difficulty in getting it at all’. The Ula was generally held by a warrior in a full fisted grip with all four fingers and thumb firmly grasping the lower part of the shaft and was hurled end over end in flight striking a heavy and formidable blow to the head.
 
Ex Private English collection
 

Fijian Hardwood Warrior’s Throwing Club ‘I Ula Drisia’

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ENQUIRIES

+44 (0)7768 236921
+44 (0)7836 684133

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk