War Club
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1838 to 1842
name: label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: LONG, NARROW, BAT-SHAPED CLUB WHICH HAS A FLATTENED PADDLE-LIKE DISTAL END AND IS COVERED WITH CARVED GEOMETRIC DECORATIONS THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE CLUB. THE DESIGNS ARE DIVIDED INTO FOUR SECTIONS LENGTHWISE. HAS ORIGINAL PEALE TAG. PUBLICATION: VIOLA, MARGOLIS, "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS, S.I. PRESS, 1985, ILLUSTRATION P. 132. NOTE ON OLD CATALOGUE CARD FROM CURATOR SAUL H. RIESENBERG, 1965, STATES THAT THE CLUB IS "CERTAINLY FIJIAN, AND MUST HAVE BEEN IMPORTED TO TONGA". THE TYPE OF DECORATION ON THIS CLUB IS USUALLY REFERRED TO AS TONGAN DECORATIVE CARVING. SEE FERGUS CLUNIE, "FIJIAN WEAPONS AND WARFARE," FIJI MUSEUM 1977, AND "YALO I VITI," FIJI MUSEUM 1986. EXHIBITED MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 1985-86.
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "LARGE PADDLE TYPE, WIDE CROSS RIB. THIS CLUB COLLECTED IN TONGA BY U. S. EX. EX. IN PEALE CATALOG IS CALLED "AKAN, WAR CLUBS USED BY THE TONGA ISLANDERS." BUT IS CERTAINLY FIJIAN, AND MUST HAVE BEEN IMPORTED TO TONGA. (PER RIESENBERG, 1965)."
label: Notes
content: As of 2013, there are 2 dissimilar clubs bearing this catalogue number. Notation on catalogue card "2" seems to indicate that this has been the case for some time.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 30 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Tongatapu Group, Tonga, Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Tongan
label: Culture
content: Fijian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 66A00050
label: USNM Number
content: E3591-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Club
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 123 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 10.2 cm
label: Diameter - Base
content: 4 cm