Maori Taiaha Fighting Staff

A taiaha, Maori fighting staff, long wooden staff, one end elaborately carved in the shape of an head (upoko) with a face on each side whose eyes were originally inlaid with paua (three of the four are lost) and terminating in a poking tongue (arero) in the typical Maori gesture of defiance, carved with rauru spirals. The slender and smooth body provides the grip, the blade on the other end is missing. Fine reddish-brown patina. The taiaha was a 'weapon of authority', mainly used by chiefs, wielded with both hands in a variety of thrusts, parries and feints. Its ornamentation was aimed to impress and distract the enemy with the sparkles of the paua, the tongue issuing forth and often the feathers that would be placed around the neck of the weapon. National registration number: Y21009, length 69.5 cm, width 4.5 cm