Artwork Page for Bowl

Details / Information for Bowl

Bowl

1800s

Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Huon Gulf, Tami Islands, 19th century

Medium
painted wood
Measurements
Overall: 9.9 x 40.3 x 17.4 cm (3 7/8 x 15 7/8 x 6 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
The Mary Spedding Milliken Memorial Collection, Gift of William Mathewson Milliken 1965.322
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The people of the Tami Islands manufactured canoes, house beams, drums, bowls, lime spatulas, and neckrests using tools such as stone axes, bamboo knives, tree-bear teeth, and pig, cassowary, and dog bones. Tami bowls were carved from the hard wood of the azalea and decorated with patterns that vary from deep etching to high relief. Many bowls were blackened with a graphite compound and highly polished. Decorative patterns were owned by specific families, and could not be used by other carvers.
Medium-brown bottom of a brown, egg-shaped bowl carved with a stylized, cat-like face on the lower half. An inverted teardrop shape surrounds the face, with further strips extending from the side of the bowl below the face's chin, like a beard. Carved above the head are three spikes outlined in a triangle pattern, the tallest one center while the shorter ones curve around the edge of the bowl. In the central spike run geometric patterns.

Bowl

1800s

Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Huon Gulf, Tami Islands, 19th century

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact Us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.