Maori Taiaha Quarter Staff-Polynesian Weapon-Oceanic Art-Harry Franklin
Here is a superb Maori Taiaha quarterstaff from the Harry Franklin Collection of Beverly Hills (O449). Taiaha are probably the best-known Māori clubs and are true fighting weapons used to thrust, parry, and swing. The top has back-to-back upoko heads with long extended tongues—the classic Māori gesture of defiance. Elaborately decorated taiaha such as the present example were the prerogative of chiefs and were held during speeches and tribal gatherings. Jeff Evans states, in Maori Weapons in Pre-European New Zealand, “They were seen as an emblem of rank at such events, and to challenge a Rangatira out of turn while he was holding such a weapon was to take your life in your hands” (Evans, 2016, p. 22). This one is 64 ¾” (164.4 cm) in length, dates to the mid/late 19th century and is published in my catalog “Three Collections of Oceanic Art” as No. 2.