Ceremonial vessel in the shape of an ax head

Ceremonial vessel in the shape of an ax head, Bronze and Iron Age, ca. 500 B.C.–A.D. 300
Indonesia (Sulawesi),
Bronze; H. 41 3/8 in. (105.1 cm)
Purchase, George McFadden Gift and Edith Perry Chapman Fund, 1993 (1993.525)

Description

This monumental ceremonial object is in the shape of an ax head standing on its blade. Where it was made and how it was used are unknown; only one similar example has been found, in Makassar in southwest Sulawesi. A remnant of a tang at the base and two interior struts just below the opening make it likely that the ax-head was suspended or stabilized by means of ropes. Several related basket-shaped objects supplied with suspension rings and tangs have been found in Vietnam; one is known from Indonesia (Asserjaran, Madura Island). Aside from the great bronze drums, these mysterious objects of both types are the largest and most complex castings from the metal ages known in Southeast Asia. It is possible that they too were meant to be struck to produce sound; the fragile state of our example does not permit this hypothesis to be tested. Since extraordinary skill and labor-intensive work were required to produce such objects, they must have been, like the drums, ceremonial objects imbued with great prestige and perhaps spiritual power. For the same reason, it is possible that the ax-head vessels were not cast on the Indonesian island where they were found. Their decoration is closer to designs found in island Southeast Asia than to those in Vietnam, however, and an Indonesian provenance for them is likely. Some of the low-relief embellishments, particularly the quatrefoil motif, hark back to designs seen in the ancient Lapida culture of Melanesia and Polynesia (2000–500 B.C.). The rows of elongated teardrop-shaped bosses on the sides may allude to the horns of water buffalos, animals that still play an important symbolic and economic role among the tribes of Indonesia. On the obverse is a stylized head, unfortunately very deteriorated and overlaid with modern engraving. Since the only two examples of this distinctive ax-shaped type were found on Sulawesi, it seems likely that they were made for trade to tribal chiefs on the island.