hand-adze
- Museum number
- Am.8222
- Description
-
Straight-adze (hand-adze), with the finial carved in zoomorphic form (animal head), of antler, with an iron blade, set in wood, and a hide binding, the shaft decorated with lines of dot and circle designs.
- Dimensions
-
Length: 27.50 centimetres
-
Width: 4 centimetres
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Depth: 7 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- This straight adze may well be from Cape Beaufort, but in it's design and appearance, with an animal head finial, it resembles other strait adzes from the Columbia River/Puget Sound region of Oregon/Washington, and is more likely to be Chinook or Coast Salish than Native Alaskan. Alaskan adzes in the British Museum, or in N H H Graburn et al 'Alaska Commercial Company Collection', Berkeley 1996, pp. 285-286 are not of this type. Further study needs to be carried out on Alaskan adzes. Belcher collected important material in Oregon/Washington including basketry. There may be 5-10 examples of this adze type known, for further comments see the other straight adze in the British Museum: Am1950,09.1.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
1987 15 Jul-1995 15 Jul, Museum of Mankind, Introduction to the Collections
- Acquisition date
- 1872
- Department
- Africa, Oceania and the Americas
- Registration number
- Am.8222
- Additional IDs
-
CDMS number: Am1872C1.8222 (old CDMS no.)
-
Miscellaneous number: Am1872C0610.31
