patu pounamu / mer

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Slash and thrust weapon

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The mere or patu, made of different materials, were regarded by Māori as important status symbols and were also effective weapons. Used as cutting and thrusting weapons against head and body, they could inflict dangerous wounds on the opponent with their sharp edges. Text: Ulrich Menter

Data Provider
Linden-Museum Stuttgart Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde Show original at data provider

Cataloguing data

Cultural attribution
Māori
Object type
Hieb- und Stoßwaffe
Dimensions
Length: 36.8 cm
Width: 10.8 cm
Depth: 1.8 cm
Material/Technique
Nephrite, Textile
sawn, cut, chiselled, drilled
Current location
Linden-Museum Stuttgart
Inventory number
004467

Provenance and sources

  • Assignment to a curated holding:
    Hahl; 0115
  • Production
    when
    18th/19th century.
  • Change of physical control or legal title
    where
    New Zealand
    who
    Hahl, Albert - Collectors
Provenance
Albert Hahl (1868-1945) was Vice-Governor of the Eastern Caroline Islands (Micronesia) from 1899 to 1901 and held the office of Governor of German New Guinea from 1902 to 1914. Even before this time, he was imperial judge for the Bismarck Archipelago from 1896 to 1898, based in what was then Herbertshöhe, now Rabaul in New Britain. The weapon was presumably acquired during that period – in the historical inventory book its origin is incorrectly listed as "Weberhafen [Kambeira Bay], Gazelle Peninsula" in the north of the island of New Britain. Whether this was a false attribution by the museum or whether the object was actually acquired in New Britain is unclear, as is the history of the object before its acquisition by A. Hahl. Text: Ulrich Menter

Information about the record

Legal status metadata
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED

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