coup-stick;
club
- Museum number
- Am1927,1020.3
- Description
-
Coup stick made of wood (?), covered in skin. At one end is a horse hair tail, attached by skin wrapping and with strands of glass beads at point of attachment. At the other end, a skin-covered stone.
- Dimensions
-
Length: 50 - 55 centimetres (of "tail"; approx.)
-
Length: 51 centimetres (to start of "tail")
- Curator's comments
-
Not included in Register. See note in Donations Book. (AMD,3/1998).
Departmental Donations Book: "... 3 coup sticks from the Plains of N.America". Not included in original Register entry at time of acquisition. Coup stick no.3 was found in 1998 with the Register number marked on an attached paper label. (AMD,3/1998).
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The item is called coup-stick on the tag. Although it is possible that such item may have been used with that intent, it was not made for that purpose. This is a striking weapon. This club bears many similarities with other two in the same collection: 1927, 1010.2; and 1926, 1020.4. Namely, the extensive use of horse-tail hair, the roughly scraped hide on the skin encasing the shaft, and the beadwork that decorates the handle. These similarities may suggest the work of one individual. In particluar, the idiosyncratic use of black beads on an item popular among western Sioux, whose use of the black colour in beadwork is very rare.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1927
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am1927,1020.3