Mid 2nd millennium AD. A carved diorite ceremonial axehead with tapering, lentoid-section cheeks, convex cutting edge, C-section collar and trapezoidal butt with one flat face and one angled; mounted on a ctom-made display stand. 801 grams, 13cm wide (1 kg total, 15cm including stand) (5 (6)"). English private collection. Ivan Donovan collection. 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]