The Blue Horizon: Pacific Art from an Important Maui Collection
The Blue Horizon: Pacific Art from an Important Maui Collection
Parrying Shield, Makira (San Cristobal), Solomon Islands
No reserve
Lot Closed
November 22, 05:11 PM GMT
Estimate
2,000 - 3,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
Parrying Shield, Makira (San Cristobal), Solomon Islands
Length: 60 1/2 in (153.7 cm)
Private Collection
Alan Steele, New York, acquired from the above
Private Collection, Maui, acquired from the above on October 10, 2000
Alan Steele, New York, acquired from the above
Private Collection, Maui, acquired from the above on October 10, 2000
William Davenport states that the shaft of the qauata was "used to parry javelins, the feather-shaped blade to protect the back of the head" (Davenport, "Sculpture of the Eastern Solomons", Expedition, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1968, p. 21); while Henry Brougham Guppy's much earlier observed that "flat-bladed curved clubs [...] serve the purpose of a defensive weapon." (Guppy, The Solomon Islands and their Natives, London, 1887, p. 75).
This club is elegantly carved, with smooth, curved edges and a tapered shaft. The stylized 'W' on the blade may represent the outspread wings of a frigate bird, which was a symbol of male power. (Waite in Morphy, ed., Animals into Art, London, 2015, p. 328).