Rare Samoan Billhook ( nifo‘oti ) Samoa, Western Polynesia

Rare Samoan Billhook , known as nifo‘oti (‘tooth at the end’)

Composite weapon produced in Samoa from an imported English bill hook blade hafted onto a longer wooden handle. The whole handle was originally wrapped in an extensive coconut fibre binding which is now fragmentary. The local name 'nifo'oti' means 'tooth at the end'.the blade of this example is punched ‘Joseph Beal, ENDURE,Sheffield’. These objects were the product of two cultures in collision: one Samoan, the other English.

Steel, wood. coconut fibre. Mid-19th century

Good Condition

overall: 77cm 

Provenance: Reuben Reubens