Club
Bulibuli bossed mushroom-headed club.
This bulibuli is the earliest known example in the world, collected during the Cook voyages. Bulibuli have straight cylindrical shafts with a hemispherical head. The head has concentric rings of raised oval bosses which, in the past, have been mistakenly interpreted as spots on a mushroom cap. The term bulibuli actually refers to a raised mound of enriched earth used for growing yams; this is what the head is intended to represent, as well as being a clearly phallic symbol.
This bulibuli is the earliest known example in the world, collected during the Cook voyages. Bulibuli have straight cylindrical shafts with a hemispherical head. The head has concentric rings of raised oval bosses which, in the past, have been mistakenly interpreted as spots on a mushroom cap. The term bulibuli actually refers to a raised mound of enriched earth used for growing yams; this is what the head is intended to represent, as well as being a clearly phallic symbol.
Object Summary
- Accession Loan No.
- 38/1923/5
- Category
- Ethnography
- Collection Class
- Arms and armour
- Collection Area Region
- POLYN
- Common Name
- club
- Simple Name
- club
- Production Country
- Fiji
- Production Year Low
- 1870
- Production Year High
- 1875
