club, ball-headed with attached scalp

club, ball-headed with attached scalp

club, ball-headed with attached scalp

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Introduction

A ball-headed wooden club carved with the figure of a long-tailed being. A scalp stretched on a ring is attached to the animal. The shaft is edged with chip carving. One side has an incised tree, four human figures, and cross-hatched bars. Anishinaabe or Haudenosaunee/Hodenosuanee, probably from the 18th century. Formerly in the late 18th century Leverian Museum in London, where it was depicted in a water colour painting by Sarah Stone. Purchased in 1922 by Louis C. G. Clarke for Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, from Arthur Holsworth of the Widdicombe House Collection.

Nation of Maker: Anishinaabe Hodenosaunee/Haudenosaunee
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular nation(s)

Based on style. The chip carving on handle and style of the carving in general is Anishinaabe or Haudenosaunee/Hodenosaunee.

Date Made or Date Range: Early 18 C to Late 18 C
Summary of Source(s) for this Relative

Museum documentation and the GRASAC research team.

Materials

wood; scalp; red ochre; tanned hide; sinew, black paint/ pigment

Techniques or Format

The club is carved from a single piece of wood, possibly maple, with a roughly 90 degree elbow ending in a ball with a pointed end. A long-tailed animal is carved on the outside of the elbow. A scalp stretched on a thong-wrapped wooden ring and attached with sinew is secured to the body of the animal by a thong. The upper edges of the club are rubbed with red ochre. Chip carving decorates the inner edges of the shaft and around the edges of the handle. The chips are painted with alternating black and red.

Motifs and Patterns

Along the top of the shaft is the body of a long tailed being, whose head is now missing. Along the shaft, starting at the handle end there are: a tree, four figures with triangular or hour-glass shaped bodies (two without heads) filled with cross-hatching, arms joined, one of whom is holding a bag, then five bars, filled with cross-hatching.

Additional Context

The four figures probably represent a war party.

Condition: Good. Some of the sinew used to attach the scalp is loose.
Reasons for connecting this relative with particular times, materials, styles and uses

The date attribution is based on the style of the carving of the club. It is most likely to have been collected during the wars of the 18th century.

Current Location: Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, UK
Catalogue, Accession or Reference Number: 1922.975
Date of Acquisition by the Institution: 1922
Date Relative was First Removed or Collected from its Community Context: 18th century
Collection Narratives and Histories

Purchased by Louis C. G. Clarke from the Widdicombe House Collection. Some of the Widdicombe House collection materials purchased at the sale of the Leverian Museum in 1806.

Sources to Learn More

J.C.H.King, 'Woodlands Art as Depicted by Sarah Stone in the Collection of Sir Ashton Lever,' American Indian Art Magazine, Vo. 18, no 2, Spring 1993, 32-45.

GKS Reference Number: 26832
How to Cite this Item

Unknown Anishinaabe/Hodenosaunee/Haudenosaunee artist, club, ball-headed with attached scalp. Currently in the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 1922.975. Item photographed and described as part of a GRASAC research trip May 2009; GRASAC item id 26832.

Record Creation Context

This record was created as part of a GRASAC research trip to Cambridge University's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, May 4-9 2009.

Record Creation Notes/Observations

Researchers present: Trudy Nicks, Stacey Loyer, Ruth Phillips, and Rachel Hand.

Approximate Place of Origin

43.7918, -84.2994

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