Patu pounamu club

Reference : 10 23 13

Nephrite(pounamu) Dimensions: Height 37.5cm Presumed period: Te Puawaitanga, Circa 1500-1800 Maôri population New Zealand Provenance: Christie’s London, December 6, 1995, lot6 Collection Mark & Caroline Blackburn, Honolulu Bonhams Los Angeles, July 2, 2020, lot 28 Collection Patrick & Ondine Mestdagh, Brussels Private collection Publications : Adrienne Kaeppler. Polynesia, The Mark & Caroline Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu 2010, reproduced Fig. 492 Galerie Meyer. Casse tête II Parcours des Mondes 2022.
pp. 240, 241 Meyer Gallery.
Catalog Fine Art Paris & La Biennale 2022, pp. 92/93

More details

This large club, or patu pounamu, is finely carved with a lithic tool from a beautiful mottled green nephrite, known as greenstone to European settlers.
The grip is carved with four concentric ridges surmounting a biconical hole for the passage of a lanyard.
The use and possession of nephrite was reserved for the nobility or a high-ranking individual.
The remains of an early 19th-century handwritten label affixed to the club are deciphered as follows: Meré from N.Zealand — insigna of a chieftain of. a tribe.
Each (?) is said – to have –its carver– — mark of the (their) tribe — — belonged –There are now — — at value (?) and a – –hunt in N. Zealand — 40£ to £50 has been given Signature According to Adrienne Kaepler (ibid, p.348): “As weapons and insignia of rank, these mere pounamu were precious objects handed down from father to son and bore personal names.
The remnants of a handwritten label from the early ^19th century discuss the value attributed to this club”. Price on request

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