Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
17th to 18th century
Wood
Height 23" (58.5 cm)
Provenance: Private English collection
The Nuu-chah-nulth, historically known as the Nootka, lived along the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, where ocean travel, fishing, and whaling shaped much of their cultural and ceremonial life. High-ranking chiefs were especially associated with whale hunting, an activity that carried social, spiritual, and political significance within a society organized around rank, ceremony, and maritime power. This wooden Ch'it'uut war club belongs to that tradition, its Thunderbird pommel connecting it to the imagery of chiefly authority.
Captain James Cook's third voyage reached Nootka Sound in March 1778, one of the earliest major points of contact between the Nuu-chah-nulth and European navigators. During the expedition's stay, crew members traded iron and other materials for food, furs, oil, and Indigenous objects brought to the ships by Nootka men, and objects acquired during this encounter entered European collections as part of the early collecting history of the Northwest Coast. This club's private English provenance places it within that history of early exchange.
Most surviving Ch'it'uut war clubs are carved from whale bone, while copper examples are associated with chiefly ceremonial use; wooden examples are far less commonly recorded, giving this club a distinct position within the known group. Its rediscovery in England, where it had been misidentified as a Massim club from New Guinea, adds an important layer to its collecting history. The club is carved from dense wood, possibly Pacific yew, with a well worn glossy patina from long handling, the pommel carved with a Thunderbird head in profile associated with the whaling traditions of leading Nuu-chah-nulth families.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
17th to 18th century
Wood
Height 23" (58.5 cm)
Provenance: Private English collection
The Nuu-chah-nulth, historically known as the Nootka, lived along the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, where ocean travel, fishing, and whaling shaped much of their cultural and ceremonial life. High-ranking chiefs were especially associated with whale hunting, an activity that carried social, spiritual, and political significance within a society organized around rank, ceremony, and maritime power. This wooden Ch'it'uut war club belongs to that tradition, its Thunderbird pommel connecting it to the imagery of chiefly authority.
Captain James Cook's third voyage reached Nootka Sound in March 1778, one of the earliest major points of contact between the Nuu-chah-nulth and European navigators. During the expedition's stay, crew members traded iron and other materials for food, furs, oil, and Indigenous objects brought to the ships by Nootka men, and objects acquired during this encounter entered European collections as part of the early collecting history of the Northwest Coast. This club's private English provenance places it within that history of early exchange.
Most surviving Ch'it'uut war clubs are carved from whale bone, while copper examples are associated with chiefly ceremonial use; wooden examples are far less commonly recorded, giving this club a distinct position within the known group. Its rediscovery in England, where it had been misidentified as a Massim club from New Guinea, adds an important layer to its collecting history. The club is carved from dense wood, possibly Pacific yew, with a well worn glossy patina from long handling, the pommel carved with a Thunderbird head in profile associated with the whaling traditions of leading Nuu-chah-nulth families.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
