Ceremonial axe from the Island of Mangaia made of wood, natural fibres and stone. This monumental instrument was used, according to some studies, to kill sacrificial victims to the God Rongo. According to other scholars, it was exchanged as an important gift between island chiefs.
Provenance: the lot presented was collected by Captain Congway Mordaunt Shipley during a two-year voyage in the Pacific as officer of the ship Calypso, from 1847 to 1849. Ex Sotheby's London, July 1978, lot 274. Bibliography: 'Art of Oceania', Museo preistorico - etnografico L. Pigorini, De Luca Editore, 1971. (photo book page and catalogue).