Rare 18th C. Maori Patu Pounamu Mere Greenstone Club with Provenance
Several chips as shown. Overall length 37cm. Provenance - collected by George Weller-Poley (1783-1849) whilst in New Zealand in the 1820s. Thence by descent to the The Weller-Poley Family Collection, Boxted Hall, Suffolk.
In addition to this club Weller-Poley also collected a preserved Maori Chieftain's head. A heated international debate raged in 1988 when Mrs Nancy Weller-Poley instructed Bonhams to sell the head, ultimately the family decided to gift the head back to the Maori people.
P.O.A.