Canoe-Prow Splashboard (Rajim)

early 20th Century

Massim Island Region , Trobriand Islands

Now weathered, this splashboard originally served as a spiritual guide for a canoe filled with men. Curving birds and waves etched into the surface surround a small human crouched at the top. The holes on the rim would have been dressed with tassels, streamers, shells, and feathers. One observer said the Trobriand Islanders relied on a “technology of enchantment” to dazzle all who saw the canoe, protecting them from enemies in the water and stirring up respect from their rivals.

Wood with pigment

20 3/8 x 26 1/4 x 2 in. (51.7 x 66.7 x 5.1 cm)

Overall h.: 21 3/4 in.

Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection

70.120

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Our Blue Planet: Global Visions of Water, Mar. 18 - May 30, 2022.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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