Northwest Malekula Island, Vanuatu
Circa 1850-1900
Length: (14 inches) 36 cm
Provenance: American West Coast collection
Chiefs of the Big Nambas people of northwest Malekula Island formerly possessed specialized highly stylized figurative spears that served as fearsome tools of retribution. Measuring some 3 meters long, these spears consisted of a long bamboo shaft surmounted by a carved wooden foreshaft (as pictured here) adorned with deeply carved stylized faces representing powerful ancestors. The sennit wrapped wooden shaft above the faces once held a spear point of human bone, a supernaturally powerful material that increased the weapons efficacy. Owned and controlled by chiefs, these spears were used primarily by "maho" warriors; a class of professional assassins dispatched by the chiefs to kill enemies in retaliation for insults, infractions of customary law, or deaths caused by warfare or magic.
The foreshaft pictured here is a particularly fine example featuring powerfully carved stylized faces in janus form. The patina is dark and glossy. A custom pedestal base is included.
Northwest Malekula Island, Vanuatu
Circa 1850-1900
Length: (14 inches) 36 cm
Provenance: American West Coast collection
Chiefs of the Big Nambas people of northwest Malekula Island formerly possessed specialized highly stylized figurative spears that served as fearsome tools of retribution. Measuring some 3 meters long, these spears consisted of a long bamboo shaft surmounted by a carved wooden foreshaft (as pictured here) adorned with deeply carved stylized faces representing powerful ancestors. The sennit wrapped wooden shaft above the faces once held a spear point of human bone, a supernaturally powerful material that increased the weapons efficacy. Owned and controlled by chiefs, these spears were used primarily by "maho" warriors; a class of professional assassins dispatched by the chiefs to kill enemies in retaliation for insults, infractions of customary law, or deaths caused by warfare or magic.
The foreshaft pictured here is a particularly fine example featuring powerfully carved stylized faces in janus form. The patina is dark and glossy. A custom pedestal base is included.
