Cleveland Museum of Art

Bowl

Date

1800s

Medium

painted wood

Culture

Melanesia, Papua New Guinea, Huon Gulf, Tami Islands, 19th century

Department

Oceania

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

The people of the Tami Islands manufactured canoes, house beams, drums, bowls, lime spatulas, and neckrests using tools such as stone axes, bamboo knives, tree-bear teeth, and pig, cassowary, and dog bones. Tami bowls were carved from the hard wood of the azalea and decorated with patterns that vary from deep etching to high relief. Many bowls were blackened with a graphite compound and highly polished. Decorative patterns were owned by specific families, and could not be used by other carvers.

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