Parrying Shield or Club, Solomon Islands

qauata

William Ockelford Oldman, London, inv. no. 1625
John Woodman Higgins, Worcester, Massachusetts, acquired from the above on April 16, 1931
The Higgins Armory Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, inv. no. 1625.2
Thomas del Mar, London, John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, March 20, 2013, lot 55
Private Collection, United Kingdom, acquired at the above auction

William Davenport states that the shaft of the qauata was 'used to parry javelins, the feather-shaped blade to protect the back of the head' (Davenport, 'Sculpture of the Eastern Solomons', Expedition, vol. 10, no. 2, 1968, p. 21); this agrees with Henry Brougham Guppy's earlier observation that 'flat-bladed curved clubs [...] serve the purpose of a defensive weapon.' (Guppy, The Solomon Islands and their Natives, 1887, p. 75).

The stylised 'W' on the blade may represent the outspread wings of a frigate bird, which was a symbol of male power. (Waite in Morphy, ed., Animals into Art, 2015, p. 328).