Club ('u'u), Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia - Lot 297

Lot n° 297
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Estimation :
30000 - 40000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 61 981EUR
Club ('u'u), Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia - Lot 297
Club ('u'u), Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia Probably 18th century Wood L. 140 cm - W. 19 cm Club ('u'u), Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia Probably 18th century Wood L. 55 1/8 in - W. 7 1/2 in 391 CH Provenance : - Musée de Sainte Croix, canton de Vaud, Switzerland, acquired before 1900 - Acquired in the 1960s by Pierre Weité. (1914-1999), Montbéliard (Doubs, France) - Acquired in the 1980s Important U'u club from the Marquesas Islands, carved from ironwood (casuarina equisetifolia). The beautiful dark-brown patina was obtained after a long immersion in the mud of a tarodière. It was then rubbed for a long time with coconut oil to obtain a beautifully polished wood. Characteristic of Polynesian culture and often represented, the Tiki is a proper noun, designating the first man and the mythical god. The upper part is classically carved with two stylized human heads. The eyes glow, the pupils signified by two small Tiki heads. Another, larger Tiki head is carved in high relief in the middle of the central crossbeam. Lower down, in several distinct registers, is carved a decoration of linear motifs, two large stylized eyes, and a large register of interlacing, complex lines, circles and ovals evoking the many tattoos of the Marquesans. This heavy, efficient weapon worked by direct percussion. The lateral protuberances are the points of percussion, the broad head forming a mass. The end of the handle is sheathed in braided coconut fibers. The refinement of the carvings and engravings suggest that this object was collected early in the 19th century. Important prestige objects, these clubs could have been trophies won over the enemy. The first objects brought back to Europe were those collected by Captain Cook during his visit to the southern group of the Marquesas Islands in April 1774. Around thirty in all, scattered across several museums: London, Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, Stockholm and Göttingen. In France, it was in 1840, on the return of Jules Sébastien Dumont's second Jules Sébastien Dumont d'Urville's second scientific expedition on the Astrolabe and the Zélée, public and private collections were enriched by Marquesan objects brought back by sailors and officers to the French home in the Marquesas Islands. Marquesas Islands.
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