Description:

**Originally Listed At $1000**

Oceania, Melanesia, Solomon Islands, ca. late 19th to mid-20th century CE. This is a fine gathering of 3 spear shafts, each hand crafted from bamboo, wood, rattan, and barbed tips made from fish bones and wood. All three are similar in construction: assembled from two pieces - the lower shaft is lightweight bamboo with a durable palmwood tip set into the top. Finely woven rattan strips encircle and bind the wood together. The longest is slender with 8 fish bones attached to the palmwood with coiled rattan and pitch. The next spear is missing most of the barbs but is similarly hafted together. The last is etched with linear decorations just before the barbed blade - each spike carved from the palmwood. These pointed barbs are meant to anchor themselves within the body of the prey and allow the hunter to safely remove most of the spear without compromising their weapon. Size of largest: 52.25" L x 0.5" W (132.7 cm x 1.3 cm); 52.75" H (134 cm) on included custom stand.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, 1995-2010; ex-John DuPont collection

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#168513

  • Condition: Losses to woven rattan fibers and chips to blade and missing barbs on the thickest spear. Loss to bamboo tip of longest spear. Chips to wooden barbs on the shortest spear, but otherwise intact. Great patina throughout all.

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September 17, 2022 9:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000