Fijian Vunikau-Buliwakama War Club, Polynesian Weapon
As I have spoken about before, the aesthetic allure of Polynesian war clubs is often a synthesis of several factors—the often formally complex striking end that can be appreciated for its technical dexterity and then the visceral reaction one gets from envisaging the violent collision of that club head with the relative softness of the human body. There is also the tactile quality that often gets overlooked by those who haven’t had the opportunity to hold one of these old clubs in the hand to feel the weight, balance and shear momentum the club generates on its own accord—as if the weapon knows its true purpose and is anxious to get at it. For God’s sake what other “art” object can deliver such visual, emotional and literal impact?
This club is an exceptional Vunikau-Buliwakama type with the top fashioned from a buttress root where the nubbins have been cut short to create a compact, beautiful but mean-spirited head. There is a whole universe to the multitude of flat-topped knobs that sprout out from the swirling grain of red, brown and black surface—that is why I have included so many detail shots of this portion to show all the crazy beautiful undulations.
The club dates to the early 19th century, comes from a Dallas, Texas collection, is 43 7/8” (111.3 cm) in height.