The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

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

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

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.
  • 1965
    Sale, Sotheby's, Nov. 15, 1965, lot 86
    Sale, Sotheby's, Nov. 15, 1965, lot 86
  • {{cite web|title=Canoe Splashboard|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.130