Tray

ClassificationsFurnishings-Serviceware-trays

Datemid 20th Century

Made AtNgchesar State, Palau

Collection SiteNgchesar State, Palau

MediumWood and shell

Dimensions3 1/4 × 19 1/2 × 57 in. (8.3 × 49.5 × 144.8 cm)

Credit LineGift of Frieda O. Wray from the Estate of Dr. & Mrs. Douglas and Carolyn Osborne

Object number2019.17.35

DescriptionThis is a wooden tray collected in 1969 on Ngersuul Hamlet in Ngchesar, Palau. In the Palauan vernacular, a dachelbai is a man who is skilled in creating things by hand, such as fashioning trays out of wood. Traditionally, freshly cooked fish would be served on these long plates and garnished with an assortment of other local delicacies; such as taro slices or boiled squash. Cooked fish is prepared by wrapping freshly caught fish in coconut fronds and smoking them over the household’s hearth fire. It was considered forbidden to consume raw fish or specific fish referred as totem fish.

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