Context (Acquisition Details)
Part of a collection of Indian material donated by Gait, numbered E 1916.148.1-87 (from the entry in the accessions register). These items were also numbered as AR 1916.190.1-87 (from the entry in the Annual Report). Some items have since been known only by their Annual Report number and so, for the sake of consistency, the whole collection has been entered on computer as AR 1916.190.1-87. Original accessions numbers are entered in the CRN field. (Alison McKeating, April 1995). Z 20216 probably formed part of this catalogue entry
Event Date 22/3/1995
Author: maa

Description (CMS Description)
Hunting axe. Label states, "Chota-Nagpur, Sontal Paganate and Jajpur, Orissa"
Event Date 22/3/1995
Author: maa

Context (Acquisition Details)
The Thirty-Second Annual Report of the Antiquarian Committee to the Senate, with List of Accessions for the Year 1916 (presented May 24, 1917) gives the following description of the Gait Collection (p.7):
1916.190 (1-87). Comb, pair of tweezers, etc., box for cosmetic; twenty-seven ornaments and dresses, purse; sitting-pad; axe; lime-box; seven hunting and fishing appliances; carrying net with pole; four musical instruments; and spinning top from the Chota Nagpur District. Three ornaments and dresses; axe; pickaxe; two shields; and bamboo flute from Sontal Parganas District. Seventeen ornaments; three metal styles and three palm-leaf books from Jaipur District; and two water vessels, and cup (gourd and bamboo); and five samples of roots and leaves used as food by the Jungle Tribes (Bhumija, Sabar, etc.) inhabiting the forests of Orissa. Sir Edward Gait, K.C.S.I.
Event Date 9/2/2013
Author: maa

Context (Amendments / updates)
The Place field for this entry stated "Orissa; Jaipur, Sontal Paganate [Santal Parganas; Chota Nagpur", presumably based on the label attached to the object. The Annual Report entry for the collection suggests that this axe and other hunting equipment is from Chota Nagpur, and the Place field has been updated accordingly.
Event Date 9/2/2013
Author: maa

Context (References)
Published: C. A. Bayly (ed.) 1990 The Raj: India and the British 1600-1947 National Portrait Gallery Publications. p. 299
[Section III, Photography in Nineteenth-Century India (by John Falconer), Anthropology and the Colonial Image]
‘386 Oraon objects collected by E.A. Gait
[...] iv) Axe
c. 1916
Length 62 (25)
Attached label: Axe (Muding Make [Mundari] Sanni Tonge [Oraon]) made by Lohars for cutting wood. Chota Nagpur India, the Honble Mr E. A. Gait. CSI 1916
Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (1916.148.33)'
Event Date 13/5/2016
Author: Olivia Maguire

Description (Labels & Markings)
A paper label adhered to the object reads: 'Axe. ([?]Muding Make, [Mundari], Sanni tonge [Oraon]), made by lohars, for cutting wood. Chota Nagpur, India. The Hon Bie Mr. E. A. Gait, C.S.I. 1916.1---'
Event Date 28/2/2023
Author: Flo Sutton

Context (Amendments / updates)
'Asia; South Asia; India; [Chota Nagpur]; ?Jharkhand; ?West Bengal; ?Orissa; ?Chhattisgarh' has been entered as the place, as these are all contemporary regions corresponding to the historic region of Chota Nagpur.
Event Date 28/2/2023
Author: Flo Sutton

Description (Physical description)
Axe, possibly made for chopping wood. The axe comprises a handle of wood, slightly bent with the shape of the wood, surmounted by an iron axe head.
Event Date 28/2/2023
Author: Flo Sutton