Maori whaleone club at Tennants, Leyburn, |N. Yorks, June 22nd

   There is a Maori whalebone club coming up for sale at Tennants Auctions, in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, on Friday, June 22nd as part of its Militaria & Ethnographica sale.

   'A 19th Century Maori Whalebone Wahiaka (Hand Club), with fine aged patina, of curved form, the handle pierced through for attachment and terminating with the head of a mythological figure with inlaid red sealing wax eyes, the tapered blade pierced along one edge, the opposing edge carved in relief with a Tiki figure with abalone shell eyes inlaid with red sealing wax, overall length 31.5cm.'

    You can view the catalogue online here. There's a taiaha also up in the same sale.

   Update:  The taiaha sold for £800 and the wahaika sold for a whopping £19,000 against an estimate of £2,000-3,000!