- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- Throwing club with bulbous fluted head (I ula tavatava) [FC 01/08/2011]
- Long description
- Throwing club with bulbous fluted head (I ula tavatava). The head is round with octagonal lobes and ends in a domed cap with flange. The lower portion of the handle is lost. [FC 01/08/2011]
- Date / Period
- Date made: On or before 1886
- Date collected
- ?On or before 1886
- Acquisition information
- Transferred: 24/09/1886
- Materials and processes
- Material Wood Plant, Process Carved
- Dimensions
- Width: max 87 mm, Length: max 310 mm
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1886.1.1521
- Research and responses
This object was examined on the 29/30th November 2012 by Any Mills as part of the work of the AHRC-funded project 'Fijian Art: Political Power, Sacred Value, Social Transformation and Collecting Since the 18th Century' (2011-2014). His notes read: "I Ula Tavatava (Clunie type 21F) [see Fijian Weapons and Warfare by Fergus Clunie, Fiji Museum, 1977]. Broken above handle incisions, missing butt. L; 295 [+ ?100 min] HW: 95 HD: 87 Nubbins structured in 3 rows. Evidence of beginning of tavatava, but broken off. 17x lobes in each row." [FB 04/12/2012]
I Ula tavatava is the native name for this type of club. Throwing clubs characteristically have short handles and bulbous ends. The origins of the fluted head of the 'Ula' lie in the buttress roots of the uprooted ironwood saplings from which these clubs are made. The grip on the handle has a decorative and functional carved motif consisting of a series of parallel zig-zag lines called 'tavatava' which help the warrior to grasp the club firmly when swinging or throwing the weapon. Such clubs were hurled with great skill, precision and speed and was often carried in conjunction with a heavier full length club or spear which served to finish an opponent after initially being disabled by a blow from the ula. [FC 25/07/2011]
Throwing club. See F Clunie 'Fijian Weapons and Warfare' 1977 Fiji Museum, Suva, Bulletin of the Fiji Museum no.2 and R. Ewins, Fijian Artefacts: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery collection' Australia 1982.] [AP Leverhulme project on founding collection 1995-1998]
1886.1.1521
Throwing club with bulbous fluted head (I ula tavatava) [FC 01/08/2011]
1886.1.1521
Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford
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