Carved stick made by Japanese prisoner in Featherston prisoner of war camp in WWII (donated by Tony Taylor)

Content Description

Stick is 45cm long and depicts a green snake wrapped around top end. TT reports that they were carved from boxwood using nails as carving tools and sold to guards for pocket money to buy tobacco. "Those who did camp duties only usually had their afternoons free and spent this and their other leisure hours playing outdoor sports, sketching and carving, beautifying the entrances to their huts, or playing Japanese card games. " (Prisoners of War, by Mason W. Wynne. Wellington: HIstorical Publications Branch, 1954; part of the Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War) http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Pris-_N95664.html

Acquisition Type

Gift

Restrictions Apply

No

Access Restrictions

Materials closed until processed.