Club "patu" · New Zealand, Maori · ID: 3036672
sold
EUR 2,800
Size
L: 37 cm
L: 14.6 inch
Description
greenish grey nephrite stone, polished, barrel-shaped blade, lense-shaped, blunt rims, hole for wristcord, min. dam., small missing part;
as a weapon a “patu” was used like a short sword. It was often a treasured heirloom passed down from father to son and given a personal name. A nephrite one was, and still is, a symbol of chieftainship.
Comparing literature
Mead, Sidney Moko (ed.), Te Maori, New York 1984, p. 225, ill. 149