Lot 87

Papua New Guinea Stone Adze Celts

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Lot 87
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Papua New Guinea Stone Adze Celts
Papua New Guinea Stone Adze Celts
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Papua New Guinea Stone Adze Celts

Estimate: $800 - $1,200

Starting Bid: $350

(0 Bids)
by Artemis Fine Arts
August 6, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
Live Auction
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, ca. mid-20th century CE. A pair of ground stone celts shaped from dense rock, their surfaces worked to a smooth sheen. One is a warm slate-gray, broad and triangular, tapering from a wide rounded bit toward a narrowed poll; the lower is darker, nearly charcoal-black, longer and lenticular, narrowing to a tapered point. Such celts served as the heads of hafted adzes and axes throughout New Guinea, indispensable for felling timber, hollowing canoes, and clearing garden ground, and fine polished examples circulated as prestige objects in exchange networks that endured into the twentieth century. Size: 2" W x 5" H (5.1 cm W x 12.7 cm H).

Provenance: ex-private collection, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, USA, collected from 2010 to 2015

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Item # 198615

  • Condition: Intact with smooth surfaces.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000