Melanesian Artefacts:

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Stone Head Club (Gogodala):
Gogodala Stone Head Club (gabi lapila) Figure 1:
Gogodala Stone Head Club (ML0054)
A fine Gogodala stone head club (gabi lapila)
with a pineapple-shaped head held onto a wooden staff by a plug of resin. The head is sculptured with five circumferential and fifteen axial grooves to form four sets of studs. A matt patina over the head and polished on the shaft. material: wood, stone, resin; diameter: 100mm; length: 840mm.
Provenance:
The club was collected from the village of Kauviapu in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. Acquired from a Melbourne tribal art gallery in 1990.
The last owner of the club, Dabema Dalibi, traces his family tree back to the ancestor, clan father (Udaga Wawa) Ibali. According to informants, his grandson Esenade was the first owner of the club, but we do not know if he inherited it from his father Dedebali. Esenade brought the club from a location whose canoe place was Mua (Mutam?) in the Torres Strait.
Discussion:
See 'Beaufort 1924' - pl XL.
Comparison:
See 'Crawford, A.L. 1981' - pp.364-5..
Gogodala Stone Head Club (gabi lapila)
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