Canoe Splashboard (1800s): Art, History and Details

Canoe Splashboard (1800s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

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.

Object facts

• Title: Canoe Splashboard
• Date: 1800s
• Culture: Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Massim Area, Trobriand Islands, 19th century
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: wood
• Dimensions: Overall: 58.7 x 81.9 cm (23 1/8 x 32 1/4 in.)
• Collection: Oceanic Art
• Department: Oceania
• Accession number: 1966.130

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Klejman

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.