A Superb Old Vanuatu Pig Killing Hammer Vao Island Malekula Vanuatu 19th Century

A Superb Old Vanuatu Pig Killing Hammer, Vao Island Malekula Vanuatu 19th Century

This finely carved & very old Pig Killing Club was used in important Secret Men’s Societies on Vao Island. Many Vanuatu peoples have complex men’s secret societies, which involve a series of ritual “grades” through which individuals pass, by means of initiation rites, festivals, and pig sacrifices, in order to achieve increasing religious and social status.
The two most prominent grade societies in southern Malakula are Nimangki and Nalawan. Grade rituals in each of these societies involve the creation of brightly painted figures and masks depicting powerful spirits and other supernatural beings.

Sometimes for the Highest Grades in the Secret Men’s Societies, hundreds of Pigs would be killed & distributed among clans & neighboring villages. This type of Pig Killing Hammer or Club was used to dispatch the pigs with one heavy blow to the head.  When I was traveling through many remote areas of Vanuatu 38 years ago, occasionally I would see an old Pig Killing Hammer Club, but they were never for sale as they are very important ceremonial objects that are kept for generations.

 Provenance Ex Alex Phillips Collection & The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Oceanic Art 

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