Artwork Page for Canoe Splashboard

Details / Information for Canoe Splashboard

Canoe Splashboard

1800s

Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Massim Area, Trobriand Islands, 19th century

Medium
wood
Measurements
Overall: 58.7 x 81.9 cm (23 1/8 x 32 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Klejman 1966.130
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Description

Trobriand Islanders often travel great distances by canoe to exchange ceremonial objects. Elaborately carved splashboards offered spiritual protection to the voyagers. Stylized frigate birds ornament this example.
Medium-brown, wood canoe splashboard shaped with a rectangular base gradually widening until it curls out into oval protrusions on either side, the one on our right slightly bigger with another curved piece mimicking its patterns attached to it. Among the lines shooting up and spiraling outward from the base, stylized heads of frigate birds with hooked beaks intersperse with the curves.

Canoe Splashboard

1800s

Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Massim Area, Trobriand Islands, 19th century

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