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for Buka Paddle
Place MadeMelanesia
Title
Buka Paddle
Date19th Century
Mediumwood, paint
Dimensions6 × 60 3/8 in. (15.2 × 153.4 cm)
Object number1904.72.2
Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
DescriptionCarved and painted paddle with teardrop-shaped blade. White painted background on paddlehead and reddish paint decoration. Low relief carved ornaments, mostly red and black striped triangles.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.ProvenanceAppears to have been originally loaned to the museum by Swift and later donated. Partnered with gift of another item from the Oceania region.
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