Canoe prow carving "toto isu" or "nguzunguzu" · Western Solomon Islands · ID: 3041813
German Private Collection
Description
wood, matt blackish brown patina, white pigment, consisting of head, shoulders, arms and upper torso of an anthropomorphic figure, carved with mushroom head-like cap and large ears in openwork design, eyes and facial scarification marks with mother-of-pearl inlay, slightly dam., abrasion of paint, traces of old age;
canoe figureheads were lashed to the prows of war canoes. Their role was
alleged to be largely protective, warding off storms that could endanger the occupants of the canoe, but bringing success in warfare and headhunting as well. They were portable. Any individual figurehead was probably lashed to more than one canoe during its lifetime. They could even be placed on posts or shrines near houses when not on canoes.
Comparing literature
Conru, Kevin, Solomon Islands Art, Milan 2008, p. 50, ill. 22