ETHOC 009206

massue biface ’u’u

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009206
'u'u bifacial club
French Polynesia, Marquesas Islands
Late 19th century
Wood. H 121 cm
Acquired from the Neuchâtel Ethnography Museum in 1922
MEG Inv. ETHOC 009206
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A fearsome weapon used in hand-to-hand fighting, this type of club was regarded as a prestige emblem for chiefs and warriors. It was made to measure, so that it reached from the ground to its owner's armpit. The dark patina was obtained by soaking the club in taro fields and then polishing it with coconut oil.
Regularly made and used until about 1840, these clubs were subsequently sold or traded for firearms. Production started up again about 1870-1880 but only for the market. These two specimens ETHOC K000847 and ETHOC 009206 illustrate this evolution: the first is closer to the traditional style, with fibres on the handle, while the second is much less like the original club.

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French Polynesia

French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the French Republic, is composed of about 118 volcanic or coral islands, grouped in five archipelagos: the Society Islands, the Marquesas Islands, the Austral Islands, the Gambier Islands and the Tuamotu Islands.

Despite their political ties to France, the people of these archipelagos have and express a strong sense of their Polynesian identity.

Signs of rank, power and prestige

Works from this part of the world give us the opportunity to address the issues of power and prestige and show the communicative capacity of art. Ornamental objects such as jewellery and accessories, as well as weapons, can become status symbols and reveal the codes that distinguish human beings, signalling the gender, age group and rank of the wearer.

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