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Short Club (Wahaika)
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The wahaika, carried in a belt, was used by the Maori in hand-to-hand combat. Early, undecorated clubs were made of stone. Bone and wood clubs were decorated with increasingly complex carved designs. The small figure clinging to the side of this club may well represent the supernatural power (mana) of the weapon, while the face at the end of the grip expresses the aggression of combat.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineShort Club (Wahaika), mid 1800s. Polynesia, New Zealand, Maori people, mid-19th Century. Wood; overall: 35.6 cm (14 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Mary Spedding Milliken Memorial Collection, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken, 1964.455
