Short Club (Wahaika)
Unknown Artist
mid 1800s
Medium
wood
Dimensions
l. 35.6 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Oceania
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Mary Spedding Milliken Memorial Collection, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken
Accession Number
1964.455
About this artwork
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.