Canoe prow
19th–20th century
Object PlaceNew Ireland, Papua New Guinea
Medium/TechniqueWood and pigment
Dimensions54.6 x 12.7 x 22.9 cm (21 1/2 x 5 x 9 in.)
Credit LineGift of William E. and Bertha L. Teel
Accession number1991.1073
On View
On viewClassificationsTools and equipment
Collections
The wooden sculpture of New Ireland is distinguished by a rich combination of animal, human, bird, and plant forms; by complex openwork designs; and by the liberal use of white, black, and red pigments. Careful study of this canoe ornament-which would have decorated either prow or stern-reveals a human face in the center surrounded by birds, feathers, and animal-like heads relating to ancestral myths associated with the canoe's owner.
ProvenanceSaid to come from the collection of a German museum. May 6, 1987, sold by Galerie Alain Schoffel, Paris, to William and Bertha Teel, Marblehead, MA; 1991, year-end gift of William and Bertha Teel to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 22, 1992)
Artist Unidentified, Pacific Islander
early to mid-20th century
