canoe (water transport: accessories)

Plank built canoe with each side constructed from two courses of tapering planks and the base similarly constructed. Where the planks butt they are pierced and stitched together with coconut fibre cordage and this is overlaid with a semicircular ridge of parinarium gum. This gum is inlaid with triangular tesserae of chambered nautilus shell. The outside of the lower board on each side is painted with a parallel vertical lines and the upper board on each side at the prow is covered with a fretwork image of a Bonito. Both the prow and stern rise gracefully into a plain square figurehead which are each topped with a substantial plume of cassowary feathers. The prow piece is broken and needs repair.

object
MUSEUM NUMBER
16.10.51/1a
PLACE
COLLECTION
MEASUREMENTS
overall: 15 kg; overall: 3350 mm x 354 mm x 1080 mm
MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE
wood; parinarium resin; plant fibre; cassowary feather; chambered nautilus shell; pigment
CATEGORY
Anthropology: Ethnography
LOCATION
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Collection Information

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