id: 155915 accession number: 1991.21 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1991.21 updated: 2022-01-04 17:09:51.015000 Ball-Headed Club, late 1700s-early 1800s. Native North America, Woodlands, Great Lakes, Post-contact Period. Wood (maple?); overall: 58.6 x 7.8 x 13.1 cm (23 1/16 x 3 1/16 x 5 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1991.21 title: Ball-Headed Club title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: late 1700s-early 1800s creation date earliest: 1775 creation date latest: 1825 current location: 231 Native North American creditline: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund copyright: --- culture: Native North America, Woodlands, Great Lakes, Post-contact Period technique: wood (maple?) department: Art of the Americas collection: AA - Native North America type: Implements find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 58.6 x 7.8 x 13.1 cm (23 1/16 x 3 1/16 x 5 3/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Richard Pohrt; reportedly from a collection in Kitchener, Ontario date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: This club carries one of the richest known records of images representing Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) clan (nindoodem) identities; clan relationships shaped native politics through the 1800s. Included is an antlered creature, perhaps a caribou, along with mammals, birds, and powerful spirit beings: the thunderbird, its wings outstretched, and perhaps the long-tailed underwater panther. The ball at the striking end is held in a jaw-like form that likely refers to an animal’s muzzle; such imagery invoked a protector being that endowed the club’s owner with power. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.21/1991.21_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.21/1991.21_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1991.21/1991.21_full.tif