Canoe Splashboard
1800–1899
- Medium
- wood
- Dimensions
- Overall: 58.7 x 81.9 cm (23 1/8 x 32 1/4 in.)
- Genre
- sculpture
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Styles
Tags
Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Massim Area, Trobriand Islands, 19th century
About
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.