Maori Short Club, New Zealand

The Maori short club, known as a patu or mere, is a traditional hand weapon and taonga (treasure) of the Māori people of New Zealand, crafted from materials such as whalebone (pounamu), greenstone, or wood. These objects hold deep cultural and spiritual significance, representing mana (prestige and authority) and ancestral lineage. Historically gifted among chiefs and warriors, examples have appeared at major auction houses as significant works of indigenous Pacific art and ethnographic material culture.