Oceania, Melanesia, Solomon Islands, Makira Islanders, ca. late 19th to early 20th century CE. An important and incredibly rare ceremonial food bowl carved from wood, painted with charcoal and dark plant sap, and inlaid with dozens of intricate nacre decorations. Known as an apira (apira ni mwani, literally "bowl for men"), these flat-bottomed bowls are filled with food offerings and presented to the ali'i (chiefs and nobility) of the islands. The canoe-shaped design is accentuated with exterior handles shaped like heads of sacred bonito (skipjack) fish with inlaid nacre eyes and spotting. Both bowl faces are adorned with inlaid nacre zigzags, semicircles, and conjoined chevrons resembling abstract birds. When not in use, bowls like this example are suspended from ropes within the village canoe house, known as aofa, with canoes used on headhunting expeditions and reliquary fish containing the skulls of their ancestors. Size: 110" L x 16" W x 14" H (279.4 cm x 40.6 cm x 35.6 cm)

According to the curatorial team at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, "The bonito was a sacred fish, belonging to a wider assemblage of relationships that included the smaller fish that bonito hunt in schools; the birds attracted to the chase; and ancestral beings that took the form of sharks. The first sighting of the bonito each season began a series of rituals during which young initiates were trained to catch these aggressive fish and thus learn about their place within the wider world."

Cf. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1979.206.1773; The Brooklyn Museum, accession number 62.29; and The Penn Museum, object number 67-5-1.

Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, 1995-2010; ex-Aguttes, Paris (April 7, 2017, lot 629); ex-Todd Barlin collection, Australia, collected in 1998

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#154888

Losses to some inlaid nacre panels, otherwise in excellent condition with great remains of dark pigment throughout.