Cleveland Museum of Art

Blade from a Ceremonial Adze

Date

1800s

Medium

stone

Culture

Polynesia, Mangaia, Cook Islands, 19th century

Department

Oceania

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Before European contact, Polynesian carving tools were fashioned from bone, shell, stone, or teeth. The introduction of iron tools facilitated carving, while the demand of European sailors and missionaries for souvenirs provided a new market for craft products. Ceremonial adzes probably represented gods or spirits. The wooden handle of this example is carved with the characteristic K motif. The stone adze blade is lashed to the handle with finely plaited sennit fiber cord. According to legend, the distinctive pattern formed by the sennit lashing was taught to Mangaian craftsman by the gods.

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