Lot n° 152
Estimation :
3500 - 5000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 7 150EUR
Akau or Apa Apai prestige club, Tonga Islands - Lot 152
Akau or Apa Apai prestige club, Tonga Islands
French Polynesia
Wood, marine ivory
Length: 111 cm
Provenance: British private collection
British private collection
Didier Zanette Collection
French private collection
This club exalts in its features all the decorative complexity of the prestigious akau, whose art of surface engraving has been identified as one of the "most complex historical art systems in Oceania". (Andy Mills, In "Akau Tau:
Contextualising Tongan war-clubs", 2009) A marvel of refinement, it shows us the quintessence of a graphic composition organized around an assembly of geometric motifs, whose variations and asymmetries reinforce their ornamental power.
Added to this is the striking contrast between the warmth of the dark wood and the dazzling purity of the marine ivory, testifying to the magnificence of this club. In Tonga, akau clubs were made from a precious wood called toa (Casuarina equisetifolia) or "ironwood", recognized as both a formidable weapon and a status symbol. The most prestigious versions were meticulously carved all over, decorated with geometric or figurative motifs. Some were also embellished with marine ivory inlays, representing celestial elements or stylized animals. The presence of these ornaments on our object attests to the considerable prestige attributed to it, and by extension to the high status of its original owner - chief or priest. This refined skill in inlaying seems to have been a speciality of Tongan and Samoan craftsmen, exported to the Fiji islands where they went to work, as it was there that the wood needed to build the great sailing pirogues was found.
Akau were used in many contexts, highlighting their importance as social, cultural, spiritual and religious symbols within Tongan society. First and foremost, of course, in combat and warfare, but these weapons were also used in sport, as part of peacetime martial arts events. Clubs were also part of the regalia of eiki chiefs, along with fans, fly swatters and speaker's scepters, testifying to the prestige and grandeur of these elites. Because of the mana, the spiritual force contained within them, objects that proved effective in combat were given the status of persons, endowed with a name, sensitivity and clairvoyance. Finally, in a religious context, weapons were placed in temples in order to acquire the mana of the divinity, itself becoming a supernatural entity that conferred power and talent on the warrior who used it.
Within a highly diversified corpus in terms of shapes and motifs, our club belongs to the category of "bow-headed akau", defined by Andy Mills in his article "Akau Tau: Contextualising Tongan war-clubs", published in 2009. This typology is distinguished by its straight, round cross-section handle, connected by a raised ring, to the paddle-shaped blade crossed by a median rib along its entire length. The author also suggests that these clubs may be the ancestors of the pate sticks used in the traditional kailao warrior dance, rather than actual combat weapons, due to their uncanny resemblance.
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