Skip to main content

Boomerang: O.172-1879

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 31 (Armoury)

Maker(s)

Maker: Unknown

Entities

Categories

Description

Of hardwood, with a mixture of dark and light grain, formed in a crescent with a rounded finial engraved with cross hatched bands to help the user grip is, and widening slightly to the forward end

Legal notes

Given by Robert Taylor, MA

Measurements and weight

Length: 46 cm
Weight: 250 g

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1879) by Taylor, Robert, MA

Dating

19th Century
Circa 1800 CE - 1879 CE

Note

Although throwing sticks, sometimes called boomerangs, are usually thought to be a weapon of Australia, they were used all over south-east Asia. It is also not true that they always returned to the thrower but were primarily intended as a projectile weapon. They were held vertically to be thrown.

Taylor described, ‘ vallories from Ramnad. Closely as they resemble the boomerang, they are not known to return to the thrower’. See Elgood 2004: 237; katariya is the Khol term from Gujerat, birudungi (often birra jungee) from Hyderabad and Madurai, and fig. 19.8, illustrating a group from Liverpool Museum; also Royal Armouries no. XXVIM.20.

Materials used in production

Hardwood

Techniques used in production

Engraving

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 172
  • Method of creation: Inscribed
  • Type: Tag

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: O.172-1879
Primary reference Number: 160096
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 12 May 2021 Last processed: Friday 8 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Boomerang" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/160096 Accessed: 2024-11-22 03:16:46

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/160096 |title=Boomerang |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 03:16:46|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-160096

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...