Tongan type hardwood club widely used in Fiji, perhaps a "Dui," which had a broad head shaped like a fan.This club is undecorated, except for the base which has a star-shaped hole in it where an ivory inlay once was. Publication: see Fergus Clunie, "Fijian Weapons and Warfare," Fiji Museum, 1977, p. 57, fig. 9. Originally catalogued as New Zealand but according to Clunie it is definitely Fijian.
This object was collected in Fiji under the direction of Lt. Charles Wilkes, leader of the historic United States Exploring Expedition, the American scientific expedition to circumnavigate the globe. The objects collected from that expedition became some of the founding collections of the Smithsonian Institution.
- Title: War Club, "Dui"
- Location: Fiji, Melanesia
- Physical Dimensions: L: 79.8cm W: 15cm D: 4cm
- Type: Club
- Rights: This image was obtained from the Smithsonian Institution. The image or its contents may be protected by international copyright laws. http://www.si.edu/termsofuse
- External Link: View this object record in the Smithsonian Institution Collections Search Center
- Medium: Hardwood
- USNM Catalog Number(s): E3830
- Photo Credit: Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History
- Field: Ethnology
- Date Collected: 1838
- Accession Date: 1858
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