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Haft from a Ceremonial Adze
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
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.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineHaft from a Ceremonial Adze, 1800s. Polynesia, Mangaia, Cook Islands, 19th century. Wood, fiber; overall: 10.2 cm (4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Richard Inglis, 1940.1078.a
