id: 110842 accession number: 1929.364 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1929.364 updated: 2023-03-04 09:29:43.468000 Ceremonial Axe (gano), 1900s, by 1928. Southern Africa, Zimbabwe, Shona-style blacksmith-carver. Iron, wood, and metal; overall: 15.8 cm (6 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the African Art Sponsors of Karamu House 1929.364 title: Ceremonial Axe (gano) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1900s, by 1928 creation date earliest: 1900 creation date latest: 1928 current location: 108B Southern African creditline: Gift of the African Art Sponsors of Karamu House copyright: --- culture: Southern Africa, Zimbabwe, Shona-style blacksmith-carver technique: Iron, wood, and metal department: African Art collection: African Art type: Arms and Armor find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 15.8 cm (6 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Arts of Africa: Gallery Rotation (African art rotation) opening date: 2021-12-10T05:00:00 Arts of Africa: Gallery Rotation (African art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 10, 2021-July 2, 2023). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Collected by Paul B. Travis on behalf of the Gilpin Players at Karamu House and the African Art Sponsors date: 1927–28 footnotes: citations: The African Art Sponsors and the Gilpin Players date: 1927–28 footnotes: *
12/3/1928 letter to the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History from Hazel Mountain Walker (Gilpin Players, president) and Harry E. Davis (African Art Sponsors, president) reproduced on p. 54 of Adams, Henry et al. Paul Travis 1891-1975. Cleveland Artists Foundation, 2001.
citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift date: 1929– footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: This ceremonial axe has a half-moon piece of metal nailed to it, marked "EKB Depose." It is part of the mechanism for a pocket watch made by Edward Kummer of Bettlach, whose Swiss factories marked watches with his initials between 1888 and 1932. digital description: wall description: This ceremonial axe (gano) showcases its maker’s skill in using different materials. The crescent-shaped blade was likely locally forged; braided wires and a Swiss pocket watch fragment on the handle were imported. Like the headrest nearby, gano were gendered female; a small headrest is carved at top. Too fine for battle, a man may have held it as a status or ancestral symbol during rituals or dancing. Though made for centuries, religious use of knives and axes waned due to early 20th-century Christianity and government laws. Rising independence-era Zimbabwean nationalism (1960s–70s) revived tradition-based religion and associated objects like the gano. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1929.364/1929.364_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1929.364/1929.364_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1929.364/1929.364_full.tif