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Canoe Prow Ornament

Culture Māori
Title Canoe Prow Ornament (Tauihu)
Date 19th century
Medium Wood and haliotis shell
Dimensions Object: 18 1/16 × 35 3/8 × 12 1/8 in. (45.9 × 89.9 × 30.8 cm)
Overall (includes mount): 19 3/8 × 35 3/8 × 14 9/16 in. (49.2 × 89.9 × 37 cm)
Credit Line Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University
Accession Number 65.35

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About this Work

Feathers and a carved ornament such as this typically decorated the front of a Māori war canoe, which could measure nearly one hundred feet long and almost six feet wide. The figure on the front is associated with Tūmatauenga, the god of war. For the Māori, a protruding tongue is a sign of aggressiveness. The figure-eight-shaped mouth is characteristic of Māori style and can also be seen, for example, on the much smaller Māori flute in the museum’s collection. The openwork spiral behind the figure has been interpreted as light and knowledge coming into the world of darkness.


1965, Indiana University Art Museum purchase from Mathias Komor, New York, NY

Unidentified dates, Mathias Komor acquires [1]

Unidentified dates, unidentified owners, probably Māori culture, North Island, New Zealand and/or other places [2]

Notes
[1] We do not yet know when or under what circumstances Mathias Komor acquired the artwork.

[2] We do not yet know how many changes in ownership transpired between when this artwork was first made and owned to when Mathias Komor acquired it. This absence of documentation on ownership history within the cultures where the artworks were made and used is a result of problematic colonial collecting practices.

Provenance research is ongoing for this and many other items in the Eskenazi Museum of Art permanent collection. For more information about the provenance of this artwork, please contact the department curator with specific questions.

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Cite this Page
"Canoe Prow Ornament | Collections Online." Collections Online. Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art, Indiana University, 2024. https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/collections-online/browse/object.php?number=65.35