Third crowned portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II facing right, wearing the George IV State Diadem.

The George IV State Diadem, officially the Diamond Diadem, is a type of crown that was made in 1820 for King George IV. The diadem is worn by queens and queens consort in procession to coronations and State Openings of Parliament. The piece of jewellery has been featured in paintings and on stamps and currency. It can be seen in the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace.

Engraver: Raphael David Maklouf

Fijian throwing club 'I ulã tavatava' divides value.

This club, as highly polished and well crafted as it is, is at its heart a functional object. In Fijian society there were many different types of clubs all distinguished by their design for specific uses. This particular design is named I ulã tavatava, for the deep serrations around the head or tavatava. The name ulã comes from the buttress root of the ironwood tree, a strong hard wood, which was shaped as it grew to produce the sinewy curves of the clubs. It was designed to be thrown from a distance causing injury and the incapacitated victim would be finished off from a close quarter killing blow. Whether this victim was an animal, such as the pigeons or giant fruit bats of the South Pacific, or a human, the club was a highly effective assassination weapon.

Though the club in the exhibition case has little decoration, many clubs had lots of carvings and indentations. They were highly decorated and beautiful objects, full of the ingenuity of the craftsmen and the masculine power of the warriors who held them. From a society which used weaponry to hunt, to defend and attack, clubs like this became a central object useful and symbolic all at once.

Engraver: Ken Payne