Description

Early 19th century Fijian vunikau club with the head carved with buli buli like nodules. 

Provenance

Brought back by Louis Théodore Bernard de Ricaudy (1834–1924), a frigate captain and officer of the Legion of Honour. Serving first as a midshipman and later as an ensign aboard the first-rate corvette La Constantine and subsequently the Aventure, he was stationed in New Caledonia from January 1854 to July 1855, and again from July 1857 to September 1859.

Aboard the Aventure, he took part in France’s annexation of New Caledonia. His memoirs, preserved by the family, contain a highly detailed description of the island’s “natives” and their customs; notably, he writes: “For weapons, the New Caledonians use clubs, spears, and slings. The clubs are made of hard wood—either black or white—and take various forms resembling mushrooms or bird beaks, featuring a point on one side and a flat surface on the other; all have a 50 cm-long handle and are polished and decorated with carvings to varying degrees.” He continues: “Each village has a chief… all these chiefs command great authority and are approached according to strict protocol; for instance, a commoner must never walk behind a superior—a rule that hardly suggests trust… consequently, when the natives travel in a group—in single file—one can be certain that the most important figure is the one at the very back.”

A reef south of Nouméa bears his name.

Dimensions

109cm long