Description & Technical information

A fine war-club decorated with a frigate bird or stylized crocodile head as the finial holding a janus human head in its mouth. Santa Isabel or Florida Island, Solomon Islands, Melanesia. Wood with traces of lime. 
See a club of similar style with human figure by the same artist in the collections of Fred Feinsilber (acquired Galerie Meyer), Paris 2005.

Period:  19th/20th century
Dimensions: 122.5 x 8.6 x 3.8 cm (48¹/₄ x 3³/₈ x 1¹/₂ inches)
Provenance: Acquired from Christophe & Anna Thorpe, Sydney.
Literature: Published : Galerie Meyer - Oceanic Art catalogue for TEFAF 2011; fig. 16.

Ref. : Waite, Deborah: ART OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. Musée Barbier-Müller, Geneva. 1983.