Antique Papua Nova Guinea Pacific Oceanic DANI Tribal Adze Axe Wood Green Stone

Description

ANTIQUE PAPUA NOVA GUINEA TRIBAL WOOD AND GREEN STONE AZDE AXE
The featured item represents a Papua Nova Guinea, likely crafted by Dani people, ceremonial cutting tool similar to axe, known as "ADZE".
Adze were traditionally used for cutting wood, digging, removing sago from palms, but also had a ceremonial function and
were used
for fashioning canoes, shields, drums and masks. The key feature that differentiates the
adze
from the axe is that the blade
is set
at a right angle to the shaft. This version
is called
a foot
adze
and
can be
swung with both hands.
The piece
is made
of tapering wooden handle with pointy end and stone blade attached to the handle with intricately plaited rattan binding ( possibly orchid fibre). The blade is hand-carved from a mottled green stone with both light and dark inclusions. Not sure of the exact type, some sources describe similar stones as green basalt, other as
chloromelanite
.
The
adze
measures approximately 22" at the longest points and 14 1/4" at the widest. Total weight is about 2 pounds and 10 ounces.
The item comes in overall good condition for its age. The stone has some chips and crack lines. The wooden handle shows also wear like some
scuffs
, marks and small chips as well as natural splits. Acceptable wear on the rattan.
SOLD "AS IS"