KANAK (NOUVELLE-CALÉDONIE)
Club Kanak with bird head, carved wood, +-77.5cm.
Note: This "bird-head" puzzle - as they were called by Europeans as soon as they were discovered in the 18th century - features one of the most emblematic forms of Caledonian weapons: "The beak, stretched into a long fine point, has only a slight central ridge; the eyes are flat half-balls; the neck guard is linked to the shaft" (Sarasin, Ethnographie des Kanak de Nouvelle-Calédonie et des Îles Loyauté (1911-1912), 1929, p. 176).
