Place MadeMelanesia
Title
Buka Paddle
Date19th Century
Mediumwood, paint
Dimensions7 3/4 × 68 1/8 in. (19.7 × 173 cm)
Object number00.200.464
Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
DescriptionPaddle with narrow, tappered, tear drop shaped blade decorated with carved and polychromed anthropomorphic figures. White painted background with black and rust-brown decoration. Handle is attenuated and painted black or very dark brown. Used as both weapons and in ceremonies, decorated paddles made on Buka Island in the Solomon Island group were a popular souvenir collected by whalemen. The paddles are decorated with low relief carvings of anthropomorphic figures called kokorra that may represent spirits or ancestral figures. It has been reported that whalemen may have used these types of paddles to maneuver whaleboats close to whales although the fine condition of the paint and caving on most of the Buka paddles in the collection suggest that they were collected primarily as souvenirs.
On View
Not on view
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
19th Century
