Model Canoe and Paddles
Unknown Artist
1900s
Medium
wood
Dimensions
w. 12.8 cm, l. 80 cm
Classification
Furniture and woodwork
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of the African Art Sponsors of Karamu House
Accession Number
1929.350
About this artwork
Made of plain wood, this is a model of a canoe with a prow, seats, and five paddles. Composed of multiple panels sewn together with fibers, it was described in historical museum documents as a "war canoe." Similar examples from around the same period are found in American and European museums, where they had been collected in eastern, central, and western Africa as anthropological artifacts rather than as artworks. While the archives have little information about this object, it appears similar ...