POLE CLUB, BOVAI
TONGA
Estimate: £1,200 - £1,800
Auction: 13 March 2025 from 13:00 GMT
Description
carved wood, of bold, linear form, decorated with geometric carvings evoking the wrapping of a textile, raised on a bespoke mount
Dimensions
86cm long
Provenance
Clive Loveless, London
Private collection, United Kingdom, acquired from the above
Footnote
While the symbolic significance of the layout and motifs on Tongan clubs remains unclear, it likely relates to tattoo and bark-cloth patterns, which served as metaphors for chiefly qualities.
Literature: Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesia Art, Adrian L. Kaeppler, University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu, 2010, related example, fig. 186, page 257.