The symmetrical, paddle-shaped "ua" is one of the well-documented fighting club
types from Rennell Island. The short, flat, hand club is a generic Polynesian
form, with variants occurring from New Zealand to Hawaii. See Birket-Smith,
Kaj. 1956. An Ethnological Sketch of Rennel Island: A Polynesian Outlier in
Melanesia. Kobenhavn: Enjar Munksgaard. (pages 121-124).
Published: Hurst, Norman. 1998. Power and Prestige: The Arts of Island Melanesia
and the Polynesian Outliers. Cambridge: Hurst Gallery. (cat. No. 77) |
