Club (Alafolo or Afui)
ClassificationsArms and Armor-clubs
Datelate 19th Century
Made AtMalaita Province, Solomon Islands
MediumWood and lime
Dimensions44 × 2 3/8 × 3 in. (111.8 × 6 × 7.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Joseph and Barbara Goldenberg Estate
Object number2010.15.10
DescriptionThis club, known in the vernacular as alafolo or afui, originates from Malaita Island, one of a group making up the country of Solomon Islands. Its design is unique to Malaita Island. Characterized by both the carvings at the very top of the club and the two triangular flanges located just below, this club would have been used in combat. Interestingly, the club features two highly abstracted anthropomorphic forms. The two flanges are not functional, i.e. they do not serve as hitting edges, but are instead noses to two stylized faces. Prior to gatherings, the incised lines of the carvings are filled in with a white pigment made from lime.War clubs were very common in the islands that make up Melanesia, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Guinea. Primarily wielded in tribal conflicts, clubs made of heavy wood and occasionally fitted with stone heads were highly effective bludgeoning tools. War clubs had other uses too. They could be employed in agriculture and symbolic war clubs were often created for the sole purpose of being placed beside a deceased warrior as they prepared for the journey into the afterworld.
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20th Century
early 20th Century
late 19th to early 20th Century
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