Spurred "Snake" Club, Fiji Islands

Spurred "Snake" Club, Fiji Islands
gata
Wood
Length 39 3/4in (110cm)

Provenance
Galerie Anthony Meyer, Paris
Rik Hecker and Dr. Sydney Hecker Collection, Santa Rosa, California
Thence by descent

The rounded handle and shaft gradually forming in the more broadened head, with finely incised linear and zigzag designs on the handle, aiding in a strong grip surface, and on the back surface of the upper half; the cutting edge with an irregular roughening of the cheeks as a result of the carver intentionally pounding the tree surface with a rock while it was still growing; rich, shiny reddish brown patina.