  Contact DetailsSchool of Art |
WeaponryThe impressive collection of weapons, mostly dating from the mid to late 19th century, were acquired to illustrate different types of warfare.There are meticulously carved Fijian rootstock clubs, heavy throwing clubs, ironwood 'Gunstock' clubs and pineapple skull-crushers. Also represented are a broad sharp-edged dance paddle from Tonga, serrated clubs from Samoa, Australian aboriginal boomerangs, and a pair of New Guinea stone-head clubs from the Torre Straights Islands. From Tahiti there is a Maori staff club with pana shell inlaid eyes. There is a King Solomon Island axe with cut and polished pearl shell inlaid with designs of a frigate bird, and a finely chip-carved ceremonial Chief's Paddle from the Cook Islands, decorated with the bold geometric patterning distinctive of the Polynesian islands.  Selection of weapons on display. Weapons from the Collection on display at the 125th anniversary exhibition, 1997 Their precise source and usage is somewhat vague, many 'exotic curios' such as these would have been picked up by whalers and passing travellers and they came with little documentation.  Artist Collections | Art Pottery | Baskets | Bequests | Calligraphy | Ceramic Archive | Ceramic Figures | Ceramics | Classical Subjects in the 1920s | Collecting Contemporary Ceramics | Collecting Contemporary Prints | Colour Woodcuts | Drawings | Early British Studio Pottery | Gifts | Glass | The Great and the Good | Gulbenkian Collection | Highlights of the Collection | Illustrators of the 1860s | Lithography in the 1920s | Loans | Musical Instruments | Overview | Paintings | Photographs | Portraiture in the 1920s | Prints | Prints of the 1920s and 1930s | Private Press Books | Publications | The Historic and Retrospective Collection of Ceramics and Bronzes | Search | Special Collections | Watercolours | Welsh Folk Craft | World Craft collections Collections |
 |
