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club, round-headed
club, round-headed
club, round-headed
A ball-headed club, possibly Anishnaabe, made in the second half of nineteenth century. The shaft is decorated with flower and stem motifs and the ball is carved to resemble a face. The light weight of the club suggests it may have been made as a presentation piece. In the collections of the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow. Donor unknown.
Museum documentation states that this item is Anishinaabe.
Museum documentation and observations made by onsite-researchers.
Read More About This Relative
wood; paint, red and black
Carved, with traces of red and black paint in incised designs along the shaft.
The ball has a face carved into it. The carved motifs include flowers and leaves.
On-site researchers noted that the club is not very well weighted that the is ball is not very heavy. The piece of wood doesn't seem well chosen and the ball may not be a burl. It may haven been a presentation piece.
Stylistic characteristics suggest it was made in the second half of the 19th century.
According to the museum's documentation, "in 1976, Professor James H. Howard of Oklahoma suggested the club was made by the Ojibwa or Iroquois tribes in the late 18th or early 19th century. However, in 1980 Dr. Sturtevant of the Smithsonian Museum suggested that the club was made by the Ojibwa tribe in the late 19th Century."
Provenance
In the collections of the The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, donor unknown.
About This GRASAC Record
Item to be cited by catalog number, collection and institution.
This record was created during a GRASAC research visit to The Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, April 2007.
On-site researchers: Cory Willmott, Laura Peers, Ruth Phillips, Keith Jamieson, Alan Corbiere, Sally-Ann Coupar.