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:			

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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: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 15.8 cm (6 1/4 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

	title:		Arts of Africa: Gallery Rotation (African art rotation)
	opening date:   2021-12-10T05:00:00
	<i>Arts of Africa: Gallery Rotation (African art rotation)</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 10, 2021-July 2, 2023).

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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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: 	
			
			* <div><!--block-->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. <em>Paul Travis 1891-1975</em>. Cleveland Artists Foundation, 2001.</div>
			
			
	citations: 	


	The Cleveland Museum of Art by gift
	date: 1929–
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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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 (<em>gano</em>) 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.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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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