Axe
date: label: Accession Date
content: 24 Oct 1921
name: label: Collector
content: Mr. Herbert Ward
label: Donor Name
content: Mrs. Sarita S. Ward
notes: label: Notes
content: From cards: "Two of the blades ornamented with feeble depressions and incised dots. One is inlaid with copper, near the haft. One has the handle wound with a copper strip and terminates in a human head. The third has a human head at the haft. 3/5/64 W,. Fagg identified one of these as LUNDA Cleaned, see Restoration Record 9-9-64 (B) & (C) 322759C Loaned to Renwick 2/4/82. Returned 1983 322759C: Neg. #s 80-14863-3 BW; 80-14894 CS Illus.: P. 212, Pl. 264, "Celebrations" catalogue, Smithsonian Press, 1982." "Ax, ca. 1850-1920 Luba people; Zaire wood, iron, copper 13 1/4 x 2 1/8 x 9 3/4 (33.7 x 5.4 x 24.8) NMNH 332759-C As part of a leader's insignia, ornamented implements like this ax attested to their owner's status. Generously decorated and sometimes structurally altered, everyday tools became symbols of prestige and power. The leader of a village or clan would carry an emblem such as this on official visits and ceremonial occasions. In several African societies the ornamented ax was an integral part of certain traditional dances in which aided its user in gesturing and punctuating the beat." From drawings on the catalog card, it appears that this object is E322759C.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 22 Apr 2021
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Bembe
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 067312
label: USNM Number
content: E322759-2
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Axe