Artwork Page for Ceremonial Axe (gano)

Details / Information for Ceremonial Axe (gano)

Ceremonial Axe (gano)

1900s, by 1928
Measurements
Overall: 15.8 cm (6 1/4 in.)
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

This ceremonial axe has a half-moon piece of metal nailed to it, marked "EKB Depose." It is part of the mechanism for a pocket watch made by Edward Kummer of Bettlach, whose Swiss factories marked watches with his initials between 1888 and 1932.

Description

This ceremonial axe (gano) showcases its maker’s skill in using different materials. The crescent-shaped blade was likely locally forged; braided wires and a Swiss pocket watch fragment on the handle were imported. Like the headrest nearby, gano were gendered female; a small headrest is carved at top. Too fine for battle, a man may have held it as a status or ancestral symbol during rituals or dancing. Though made for centuries, religious use of knives and axes waned due to early 20th-century Christianity and government laws. Rising independence-era Zimbabwean nationalism (1960s–70s) revived tradition-based religion and associated objects like the gano.
A ceremonial axe features a straight, reddish-brown wooden shaft bound by textured bands. The head consists of a rectangular block with a central cavity housing a coiled metal cylinder. A wide, semicircular iron blade with a matte, dark-gray surface extends horizontally. Atop the head rests a horizontal, crescent-shaped wooden finial. The materials show a deep patina and aged, matte textures across the wood and metal surfaces.

Ceremonial Axe (gano)

1900s, by 1928

Southern Africa, Zimbabwe, Shona-style blacksmith-carver

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