NAVIGATION

A Rare Fijian War Club ‘Buli Buli’ with an Expanded Hemispherical ‘Globular-Head’ with Flat Circular Projections
Carved decoration to the grip 
Superb colour and patina 
18th – Early 19th Century

Size: 107.5cm long - 42¼ ins long 
 

Prestige and adulation were accorded to those accomplished in the martial arts, although these were only achieved by using a weapon effectively, and so the Fijian warrior would choose a club that suited his stature and natural movements. The two handed club was the traditional and favourite weapon. Different weapons were used for different types of blow and this club was a striker or crusher that was used with a downward smashing motion.
     It is said that the terrible wounds inflicted by the war clubs can still be seen on smashed skulls in burial caves on Fiji and that some warriors survived the heavy blows to live on for years with dramatically misshapen heads.

Ex Private Yorkshire collection 

cf A similar example can be found in Art and Artefacts of the Pacific, Africa and the Americas, The James Hooper Collection; Steven Phelps, 1976, plate no. 111, no. 865, page 198