SOLOMON ISLANDS WAR CLUB

History shows the warriors of the Solomon Islands to rank among the most fierce ever to inhabit the planet. Notorious as both cannibals and headhunters, they remain relatively unaffected by the Western world and carried their traditions into the 20th century. The primary weapon, the spatulate club, is deceptively simple in appearance but in fact eminently suited for its task with sharp and hardwood edges able to cleave bone in the hands of a trained warrior and a flattened club like surface opposite able to deliver a stunning or even fatal blow in close combat when the danger of embedding the club edge and momentarily immobilizing its wielder, existed. This example pre-contact—no evidence of having been worked with metal tools. 46 1/4" overall. The raised medial especially finely delineated. Fine rich patina. Slight damage each striking edge from use.