A SOLOMON ISLANDS CANOE PROW FIGURE, musumusu

Details
A SOLOMON ISLANDS CANOE PROW FIGURE, musumusu
With curved arms, hands to chin, elongated face with broad rounded chin, large nose, sharply undercut brow, wearing round cap, extensive pearl-shell inlay
5in. (12.7cm.) high

Provenance
Julius Carlebach, New York

Lot Essay

In the Solomon Islands canoes were used for head hunting and bonito fishing. Small human sculptures were lashed on the prows just above the water line. They are mostly in the form of seated figures or simply show a head with hands raised to the chin, as evident in this example. They served a protective function and were associated with a spirit called Kesoko (Wardwell, 1994, p.132).