Axe-ostensoir gi okono, Kanak, New Caledonia Slate... Lot 135

Axe-ostensoir gi okono, Kanak, New Caledonia Slate blade Dimensions. Height: 59 cm. Largest blade diameter: 25.5 cm. Provenance: Former - Former Henri Louit collection (1846-1905) - By descent to his son, Docteur Louit - Alice Guermont Collection - Jean-Louis Despiau Collection - Collection Huguette et André Fabre. Toulouse The handle is covered with a blue tapa cloth held together by crossed ligatures creating diamond-shaped fiber patterns. This supports a large slate blade, fitted and held by a coconut fiber ligature adorned with a braided cord of dogfish hair. The half-coconut base is covered with tapa and tied with braided cords of dogfish hair. A distinctive feature of this axe-stringer is the addition of a large blade made from cut slate slabs, symbolizing the gradual abandonment of this type of object as a medium of exchange between the Kanak tribes. Kanak tribes. Lacking the sacred character of shell coins, the axe-axe became a typical gift for colonial administrators at the end of the 19th century.