Northwest Malekula Island, Vanuatu
Circa 1850–1900
Wood, sennit wrapping
Length: 14 in (36 cm)
Provenance: American West Coast collection
Figurative spears of the Big Nambas chiefs of northwest Malekula Island were instruments of chiefly authority and retribution, measuring approximately three meters in full assembly with a long bamboo shaft surmounted by a carved wooden foreshaft and tipped with a point of human bone — a material understood to carry supernatural efficacy. These spears were controlled by chiefs and deployed through a class of professional warriors known as maho, dispatched to kill enemies in retaliation for infractions of customary law, insults to chiefly authority, or deaths attributed to warfare or sorcery. The foreshaft, carved with deeply incised ancestral faces, was the visually and spiritually charged element of the assembly, the faces understood as representations of powerful ancestors invested in the weapon's purpose.
This foreshaft is carved in janus form, presenting two stylized faces back to back, the features rendered in the angular, deeply cut manner characteristic of Big Nambas carving. The sennit wrapping above the faces, which once secured the human bone point, remains intact, the fiber tight and well-preserved. The wood has developed a dark, glossy patina consistent with age and handling, and a custom pedestal base is included.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Northwest Malekula Island, Vanuatu
Circa 1850–1900
Wood, sennit wrapping
Length: 14 in (36 cm)
Provenance: American West Coast collection
Figurative spears of the Big Nambas chiefs of northwest Malekula Island were instruments of chiefly authority and retribution, measuring approximately three meters in full assembly with a long bamboo shaft surmounted by a carved wooden foreshaft and tipped with a point of human bone — a material understood to carry supernatural efficacy. These spears were controlled by chiefs and deployed through a class of professional warriors known as maho, dispatched to kill enemies in retaliation for infractions of customary law, insults to chiefly authority, or deaths attributed to warfare or sorcery. The foreshaft, carved with deeply incised ancestral faces, was the visually and spiritually charged element of the assembly, the faces understood as representations of powerful ancestors invested in the weapon's purpose.
This foreshaft is carved in janus form, presenting two stylized faces back to back, the features rendered in the angular, deeply cut manner characteristic of Big Nambas carving. The sennit wrapping above the faces, which once secured the human bone point, remains intact, the fiber tight and well-preserved. The wood has developed a dark, glossy patina consistent with age and handling, and a custom pedestal base is included.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
