Second World War, hand carved Japanese PoW walking stick fro...

Hammer

£110

Second World War, hand carved Japanese PoW walking stick from Featherston (New Zealand) Prisoner of War Camp. Carved Lotus flower design with indigenous Japanese intertwining snakes. Japanese imperial crown. Wood potentially Totra, snake eyes decorated with pau shell and possible use of berry juice for staining. Provenance, the stick was originally purchased in Masterton (New Zealand), New Zealand in 1996 from a gentleman who had been in possession of the item since the war, it having come from the Prisoner of War camp in Featherston, and had been carved by a Japanese prisoner of war. Featherston PoW camp saw 48 prisoners shot and nearly 100 wounded by New Zealand armed guards in 1943. Overall length 81cm.