The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 22, 2025

Wahaika, a short club with a circular top narrowing down to the handle at the center of which clings an abstracted figure. The club features a spiral design alternating between bands of three solid lines and a line of repeated squat diamond shapes. This pattern transitions to the smooth wood of the handle and then an abstracted face, facing down from the bottom of the club with teeth bared.

Short Club (Wahaika)

mid 1800s

Polynesia, New Zealand, Maori people, mid-19th Century

wood
Overall: 35.6 cm (14 in.)
The Mary Spedding Milliken Memorial Collection, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken 1964.455
Location: Not on view

Description

The wahaika, carried in a belt, was used by the Maori in hand-to-hand combat. Early, undecorated clubs were made of stone. Bone and wood clubs were decorated with increasingly complex carved designs. The small figure clinging to the side of this club may well represent the supernatural power (mana) of the weapon, while the face at the end of the grip expresses the aggression of combat.
  • Harry Beasley
    Harry Beasley
  • Year in Review: 1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27-November 14, 1965).
  • {{cite web|title=Short Club (Wahaika)|url=false|author=|year=mid 1800s|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1964.455