Mid 2nd millennium AD. A carved sandstone ceremonial axehead with tapering, lentoid-section cheeks, D-section cutting edge, C-section collar and tapered trapezoidal butt with flat upper face and angled lower one; mounted on a ctom-made display stand; smoothed edges. 916 grams, 16cm wide (1.2 kg total, 17cm including stand) (6 1/4 (6 3/4)"). English private collection. London art market in the 2000s. Property of a London gentleman. Such blades were ually mounted on a wooden haft. They were so effective that they were capable of carving the ironwood supporting posts of chiefs' hoes. These blades were very roughly shaped by 'pecking'. They were then struck with a hammer-stone, to reduce them to a very basic shape which was then grounded away ing sandstone. It was further polished with sand and water, an extremely time consuming and labour-intensive process. [No Reserve]