Ceremonial Club (O Kono)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 16 Jun 1943
label: Collection Date
content: 1942
name: label: Collector
content: Maj. Gen. A M. Patch
label: Donor Name
content: Maj. Gen. A M. Patch
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Ceremonial club with discoidal head of polished and drilled Serpentine which is fitted into slot at distal end of straight, round-sectioned, wooden handle, which is encased in fiber and diagonally wrapped with plaited sennit fiber cord. Originally presented to donor [Major A. M. Patch] by Henri Nasseline, grand chief of Mare the southernmost of the Loyalty Islands. This unique specimen, [is] called "o kono" in Melanesian... The blade is of serpentine. It served as a mace, or chief's baton of authority. It was also used by the native rainmaker, who, with it, ritually struck the sun to produce rain."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 21 Apr 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Mare Island, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, France, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Nengone
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 165437
label: USNM Number
content: E382793-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Club