Description:

Oceania, Polynesia, Fiji, ca. 19th century CE. A beautiful example of a hafted adze known as a matau vatu boasting lustrous patina in hues of citrine, caramel, and coffee. The adze exhibits a hand-carved hardwood handle, a dramatically angled shoulder with a projecting arm, and a protruding lower lip. Atop the lower lip rests a carved, black-hued stone adze blade featuring a rounded top and an acute blade edge, and securing the blade to the adze head is a length of braided coconut sennet fiber cord. Adzes were some of the most important tools in pre-contact Polynesia and Melanesia due to their unfamiliarity with the process of metal forging. They were used for various utilitarian practices as well as components of ceremonial rituals and were prized for their spiritually symbolic powers adzes were thought to possess. Size: 8.9" W x 14.875" H (22.6 cm x 37.8 cm); 16.875" H (42.9 cm) on included custom stand.

For a strikingly similar example, please see The Auckland War Memorial Museum (Tamaki Paenga Hira), accession number 11691.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection; ex-Aguttes auction, Paris, France (April 7, 2017, lot 682)

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#154584

  • Condition: Stone blade re-inserted into sennet bindings, with light adhesive residue near back of bindings closest to shoulder. Minor abrasions and fissures to wooden handle and shoulder, with light fraying and desiccation to sennet bindings commensurate with age, and nicks to stone blade. Wonderful patina throughout. Old inventory label on handle base.

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November 10, 2022 8:00 AM MST
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