New ZealandPatu from New Zealand, Oceania. Collected by Charles Smith between 1860 and 1869. Purchased by the Museum in 1923.

The Maori, Polynesians who colonised New Zealand around 1000 BC, were a warlike people with a rich and unique range of weapons, in particular, war-clubs. This spatula-shaped object was part pf the patu hand-weapon family and is more accurately described as a cleaver, rather than a club. It probably came from the country's North Island and may date to the mid- to late-19th century.

Most patu were rather plain and made of bone or greenstone (nephrite), the latter being very highly prized due to the skill involved in shaping it. There are examples of these in museums around the world, including the Pitt Rivers and the British Museum. However, this example is of wood and highly decorated, featuring a carved, interlocking circular design and two outward-looking human faces forming the butt. Like other patus however, it has a small hole through the shaft near the butt so that it can be tied to the wrist or a waist girdle. Interestingly, it is only inlaid on one side with halitosis shell. Presumably then, the weapon was carried flat against the hip or leg, with only this side facing the viewer.

A patu was heavy enough to be an effective bludgeon and, if made of a material that could provide a thin enough edge, a cleaving weapon too. When used by skilled Maori warrior in hand-to hand combat it could prove deadly; typical strike zones included the temple, jaw and the ribs. Joseph Banks, a naturalist who accompanied James Cook on his epic circumnavigation of the globe in 1769-1772, wrote admiringly in his journal as their ship HMS Endeavour took leave of New Zealand in March 1770: "patoos patoos as they calld them, a kind of small hand bludgeon of stone, bone or hard wood most admirably calculated for the cracking of sculls...always however hav[e] sharp edges and a sufficient weight to make a second blow unnecessary" [from J. C. Beaglehole (1963) The Endeavour Journal of Joseph Banks, 1768-1771 (2 vols), Sydney: Trustees of the Public Library of New South Wales).

A warrior who carried a patu was considered to possess great strength and honour and today, the patu has come to symbolise the facing and overcoming of life's challenges and difficulties.