- DIMENSIONS:
- Length
1.40 m; Thickness 19 mm
- DESCRIPTION:
- Paddle-shaped
club of dark wood, rectangular in section. The head expands smoothly
to a squared-off end, accidentally chipped on either side. The shaft
tapers gently to an expanded, concave-sided terminal. Incised decoration
covers both faces of the head, comprising two fields each with a central
rhomboid element enclosing and surrounded by linked spiral motifs; notched
rectangular panels occupy some of the corners. Bands of multiple chevrons
enclose and separate the ends of the two fields.
- COMMENTARY:
- On typological
grounds, this club (one of a series of four) can be assigned with near
certainty to the South American tropical forest area, a conclusion supported
by timber analysis. So far it has proved impossible to identify its
exact origins, but comparisons may be drawn with clubs assigned to the
general area of Brazil and Guiana which are to be found in several European
collections. While the club considered here bears some resemblance to
others in collections in Copenhagen, Paris, and London, it has certain
unusual features which seem to exclude a Guianese origin.
- Museum Id. No:
- 1656 p. 46: Tamahacks, 6 sorts
1685
B nos. 128-32: Quinque instrumenta bellica ex India occidentali,
ex ligno brasiliano confecta, quae vulgo Tamahacks appelantur
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