Beschreibung:

'u'u Ironwood (Casuarina equisetifolia) length 58in (147.3cm) PROVENANCE Private Collection, England Warfare was an integral component of life in the Marquesas Islands in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the result of territorial rivalries or the need to avenge insults and indignities. War was carried on either in pitched battles using clubs, spears, and slings, or in ambush situations. The pitched battles were usually pre-arranged and involved much ritual preparation and invocation to the etua, the gods, for success. The ambushes were usually forays into neighboring valleys in search of heana, human victims for sacrifice. Leaders in warfare, toa, were high-ranking and influential persons in Marquesan society. Clubs such as this one are called 'u'u, and were a Marquesan warrior's most prized possession. They served as both a weapon in close combat and as a mark of high status within society. They are made from ironwood (Casuarina equisetifolia), also called toa by the Marquesans, a dense, heavy, hard wood. The clubs were buried in the mud of taro fields, then polished with coconut oil, to give them a rich, dark patina. Strands of braided sennit, with human hair attached, were wrapped around the handle area. The hair was usually that of relatives. They were designed with a curved notch on the top edge so that the warrior could put it under his arm and lean on it. As a result, they vary in size, between 4.5 and 5 feet, depending on the height of the owner. With rare exceptions, all 'u'u carved through the 1840s are so remarkably similar that they have been identified as a specific style: A/B by Karl von Steinen (1928) and A by me (Ivory 1994). Though no two 'u'u (nor the two sides of the same club) are exactly the same, their features are very consistent. The "head" of the club has two sides, each carved to resemble a large human face. Projecting knobs in the form of small heads suggest eyes and nose. A circle of striated lines surrounds each "eye", similar to the Marquesan tattoo design called mata toetoe. A ridgeline curves between the eyes to form arching brows. Along the top is a beveled edge on which a small face is carved in low relief. Below the high relief eyes, a crossbar projects horizontally from the club. Another head, centrally placed on this crossbar, forms a "nose". Immediately below are three zones of low relief carving consisting of two bands of designs between which is yet another set of eyes. The upper of these bands usually consists of two separated rectangular panels joined on the inner edges by thin arm-like lines. The lower band is continuous and generally filled with abstract geometric motifs, especially the ipu, another tattoo design...(in this case with two lizards)..The word ipu refers to containers of almost any kind, including cups, bowls, skulls, shells, and turtle shells, and can be understood as something hard that protects or shields. It was frequently tattooed on the inside of a warrior's arms, a vulnerable spot, especially when raising the arm to attack by throwing or preparing to hit something. The reason for all of the faces and eyes may have been to draw on the sacred power, and thus the protection of the ancestors, when in combat. Linguistics suggests that such repetition may indicate a symbolic relationship between the visual representation of the face or eye and an individual's ancestry, as embodied by one's genealogy. Mata is the Marquesan word for both face and eye, and also used to refer to genealogy. The term for the recitation of an individual's genealogy, which established one's place in the hierarchy of Marquesan society, is matatetau, literally to count or recite (tetau) faces/eyes (mata). Mata 'enata (face/eye people) are one's relatives, ancestors, or allies. Thus, there seem to be direct links between the notion of face and eyes and the ancestors, with their spiritual powers. The fact that there are two faces may have provided additional protection for the wa