Ceremonial Axe (gano)
Unknown Artist
1900s, by 1928
Medium
Iron, wood, and metal
Dimensions
w. 15.8 cm, l. 48.3 cm
Classification
Arms and Armor
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the African Art Sponsors of Karamu House
Accession Number
1929.364
About this artwork
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 Ch...