id: 118875 accession number: 1940.1078 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1940.1078 updated: 2022-01-04 15:19:27.274000 Ceremonial Adze, 1800s. Polynesia, Mangaia, Cook Islands, 19th century. Wood, stone, fiber; overall: 10.2 cm (4 in.); blade: 9.3 x 3.6 cm (3 11/16 x 1 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Richard Inglis 1940.1078 title: Ceremonial Adze title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1800s creation date earliest: 1800 creation date latest: 1899 current location: creditline: Gift of Richard Inglis copyright: --- culture: Polynesia, Mangaia, Cook Islands, 19th century technique: wood, stone, fiber department: Oceania collection: Oceanic Art type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 10.2 cm (4 in.); Blade: 9.3 x 3.6 cm (3 11/16 x 1 7/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: 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. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, and Ralph T. Coe. The Imagination of Primitive Man: A Survey of the Arts of the Non-Literate Peoples of the World. Kansas City, Mo: The Museum, 1962. page number: Mentioned: p. 82, no 142; Reproduced: p. 83, no. 142 url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 305 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n329 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 305 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n329 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 417 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n437 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1940.1078/1940.1078_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1940.1078/1940.1078_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1940.1078/1940.1078_full.tif