This object is an iron bladed adze with a hafted handled of 375mm. The adze is a common carving tool used throughout history in most cultures. This particular adze is hypothesised to have been manufactured by one of the indigenous Inuit populations of Alaska or the North Western Territories of Canada, sometime during or after the 18th century (Morrison, 1991, and Statistics Canada, 2016).
 |
| Figure 1. Labelled view of side A of the adze. Circular metal label reads 'E.7 Adze'. Note ergonomic size and design including the pommel, which lends the adze to being a useful carving tool. The relatively large blade suggests traded European iron, as discussed below. Photograph by author, 04/03/19. |
The handle on this adze tapers towards a pommel which would have made it an ergonomic carving tool. The weight of the adze at 316.95g means it may have been used in one hand. The handle has been carved and is attached by an organic binding to a second carved wooden component that supports an iron blade. The binding appears to be a single length of material. It is currently hypothesised to be either animal product or plant fibre, more investigation is required to confirm (Schmidt, 1995, and UCL Ethnographic Collection, 2019). Components and features are labelled in Figure 1 (above).
The blade is manufactured from iron and has evidence of previous corrosion which no longer appears to be active. The handle, blade support, and organic binding show signs of use wear that support the interpretation of the adze being in use as a working tool for some time prior to collection. An interesting feature of the blade is an accretion of what is hypothesised to be newspaper, due to the observation of a printed letter visible at 50x magnification, see Figure 2 (below). Due to the size of the blade it is unlikely to be native Alaskan or Canadian iron, and is hypothesised to have been traded between European colonisers and explorers and indigenous groups and manufactured using European technology (Morrison, 1991). The adze may have been used carve anything from everyday items to spiritual objects, possibly including Totem poles (Price, 2014).
 |
| Figure 2. Suggested newspaper letter observed in accretion on blade, photographed at 50x magnification. Photograph by author, 04/03/19. |
The biography of the adze is not well documented, which is common with ethnographic objects collected from indigenous populations (Schmidt, 1995). The adze was accessioned to the UCL Ethnographic Collection from the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum, probably in the 10th installment of objects gifted to museums in 1954 (Forde, 1954). The object is currently used within the UCL Ethnographic Collection as a teaching aid and exhibited object.
The condition is stable and the primary conservation concerns are careful handling, the continued monitoring and prevention of pest activity, and minimising of temperature and RH fluctuations in the storage and display environment.
Bibliography
Forde, D. (1954). Letter to E. Ashworth Underwood. 25th October. Wellcome Library. Available at: https://wellcomelibrary.org/item/b1853773x#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0 (Accessed: 14/02/19).
Morrison, D. (1991). The Copper Inuit Soapstone Trade. Arctic. 44:3. 239-246. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40511245 (Accessed 17/02/19).
Price, W. (2014). ‘Tlingit Carver Revives an Old Woodworking Tool: The Adze’. Interviewed by Monica Gokey. Alaska Public Media. 30/09/2014. Available at: https://www.alaskapublic.org/2014/09/30/tlingit-carver-revives-an-old-woodworking-tool-the-adze/ (Accessed 12/03/19).
Schmidt, A. L. (1995). ‘Preserving Unique Specimens’. 4th Interim Meeting, ICOM-CC Working Group on Leather & Related Materials: Conservation of Leathercraft and Related Objects Interim Meeting on the Treatment of and Research into Leather, in Particular of Ethnographic Objects. ICOM-CC. 05/04/1995 - 08/04/1995, Amsterdam. Available at: http://www.icom-cc.org/ul/cms/fck-uploaded/documents/LWG/Amsterdam%201995_%20Preserving%20unique%20specimens_%20SCHMIDT.pdf (Accessed 20/03/19).
Statistics Canada. (2016). Area of Residence - Inuit Nunangat. Available at: https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/ref/dict/pop149-eng.cfm (Accessed 21/03/19).
UCL Ethnographic Collection. (2019). UCL Museums and Collections, UCL Ethnographic Collections’ Catalogue. Available at: http://ethcat.museums.ucl.ac.uk/detail.aspx (Accessed 09/01/19).
No comments:
Post a Comment