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