Kanak Puzzle - Lot 58

Kanak Puzzle Nouvelle-Cale'donie, Me'lane'sie Bois H. 70 cm Elegant Porowa Ra Maru club from New Caledonia. It combines fluidity of form and tension in the beak. The deep patina attests to the weapon's prolonged use. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York indicates that these porowa ra maru clubs from New Caledonia were intended for use by chiefs. These clubs symbolized the wealth and high rank of their owners. They were sometimes used as gifts in ceremonial exchanges. The upper end of these clubs, carved in the shape of a stylized animal head, is sometimes distinguished, as here, by a tapering stretch. However, as none of New Caledonia's birds has a similarly shaped beak, some specialists have suggested that these clubs are more likely to represent the head of a sea turtle, with its protruding beak-like mouth. Condition report: Elegant, beautiful patina, a few very minor breaks or old, patinated cracks