Battle hammer "totokia"

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Description

heavy wood, reddish brown patina, massive slightly curved shaft with heavy club head carved with pointed knobs and thorn-like tip, the latter slightly dam., some knobs broken off, fine crack, base;
the club head is modelled like the fruit of the pandanut tree. The point at the end was meant to knock a hole in the skull of the adversary, and because they did not require much of a backswing to be effective, they were favoured for combat in the underbrush. Some chiefs valued these clubs so highly that they were buried with them in order to be properly equipped for their journeys in the afterworld.

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Comparing literature

Wardwell, Allen, Island Ancestors, Oceanic Art from the Masco Collection, 1994, p. 165, ill. 67a

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