To'i - axe

To’i - ascia

Click here to view image

Back to Focus:
Technique and Dimensions:

Wood, stone, vegetable fibres

Location:

C.D.A.1055, Legato Cap.E.A.D'Albertis, 1932

Provenance:

Second half of 19th century

The quality of the materials and the manufacture indicate that it was used in sacred works, for example in the construction of war canoes. The functionality of this type of tool was such that the Tahitians, in the eighteenth century, bought European axes to replace the stone blades with those of iron while maintaining the traditional body.
Tahiti, Society Islands