Splashboard (Lagim)
ClassificationsTools and Equipment-splashboards
Culture
Massim
Date20th Century
Made AtMilne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea
Collection SiteMilne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea
MediumWood and paint
Dimensions28 × 25 × 1 3/4 in. (71.1 × 63.5 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineCollected on behalf of the Bowers Museum by the Roski-Keller-Martin Expedition
Object number2014.12.7
DescriptionSplashboards are an important part of the canoes used for kula trade voyages. Each canoe has two splashboards, one on the bow and one on the stern, which hold up the sideboards, increase the depth of the hull and keep the ocean water from splashing the people traveling in the canoe. This particular splashboard features a design that has been attributed to the Trobriand and D’Entrecasteaux Islands. This design is characterized by one or two small human figures with arms and legs bent to an elbows-to-knees type of pose. Typically, this design will also feature a row of long-billed birds linked head to tail above the human figures.On View
Not on viewCollections
mid 20th Century
