Patu pounamu club

Reference : 102313

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
Galerie Meyer. 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 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
— insignia 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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