Crocodiles play a central role in the art and culture of the Iatmul people. According to one Iatmul creation account, an ancestral crocodile was responsible for forming the land. In the beginning, the earth was covered by a primordial ocean, into whose depths the crocodile dived. Reaching the bottom, it brought up on its back a load of mud, which became an island when it surfaced. From that island, the land grew and hardened, but it continues to rest on the back of the ancestral crocodile, which occasionally moves, causing earthquakes. Both now and in the past, the prows of most sizeable canoes are carved, as here, in the form of a crocodile. The scale of the present work indicates that it probably adorned a large war canoe, capable of holding from fifteen to twentyfive men. These large canoes, hollowed from a single massive log, were also used for trading and fishing expeditions. Although canoes are no longer used in warfare, contemporary Iatmul carvers continue to make large examples for use in trade and general transportation.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Canoe Prow
Date:19th–early 20th century
Geography:Papua New Guinea, Mindimbit village, Middle Sepik River
Culture:Iatmul people
Medium:Wood, cowrie shells
Dimensions:H. 7 1/2 in. × W. 15 in. × L. 71 1/2 in. (19.1 × 38.1 × 181.6 cm) Other: 13 1/2 in. × 6 in. (34.3 × 15.2 cm)
Classification:Wood-Sculpture
Credit Line:The Michael C. Rockefeller Memorial Collection, Purchase, Nelson A. Rockefeller Gift, 1955
Object Number:1978.412.705
[Julius Carlebach Gallery, New York, until 1955]; The Museum of Primitive Art, New York, 1955–1978
Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. "Totems Not Taboo," February 26, 1959–March 29, 1959.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art of Oceania, Africa and the Americas from The Museum of Primitive Art," May 10–August 17, 1969.
Museum of Primitive Art. "Birds, Beasts and Fantastic Creatures from the Museum Collection," June 17, 1970–September 13, 1970.
Art Institute of Chicago. "The Art of the Sepik River," October 16-December 19, 1971.
Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden. "Art From Faraway Islands," September 29, 1972–October 29, 1972.
Seattle Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–February 16, 1975.
American Federation of Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," January 5, 1975–May 15, 1977.
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 23, 1975–May 4, 1975.
Dallas Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 8, 1975–July 20, 1975.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," August 25, 1975–October 10, 1975.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," November 9, 1975–December 21, 1975.
Toledo Museum of Art. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," April 11, 1976–May 25, 1976.
Walker Art Center. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," June 27, 1976–August 8, 1976.
Denver Art Museum. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," September 10, 1976–November 7, 1976.
de Young Museum, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Primitive Art/Masterworks," March 12, 1977–May 15, 1977.
Shanghai. Museum of Art Pudong. "The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 1–August 20, 2023.
Doha. Qatar Museums. "The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from The Metropolitan Museum of Art," October 24, 2023–January 15, 2024.
Museum of Primitive Art. Masterpieces in the Museum of Primitive Art: Africa, Oceania, North America, Mexico, Central to South America, Peru. Handbook series. New York, NY: Museum of Primitive Art, 1965, nos. 40.a and 40.b.
Newton, Douglas. New Guinea Art in the Collection of the Museum of Primitive Art. Handbook (Museum of Primitive Art), Vol. Handbook No. 2. New York: Museum of Primitive Art, 1967.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Art of Oceania, Africa, and the Americas from the Museum of Primitive Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1969, no. 174.
Forge, J. Anthony. "Art and Environment in the Sepik." In Art and Aesthetics in Primitive Societies, edited by Carol F. Jopling. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1971, p. 293.
American Federation of Arts. Primitive Art Masterworks: an exhibition jointly organized by the Museum of Primitive Art and the American Federation of Arts, New York. New York: American Federation of Arts, 1974, no. 135.
Dinerman, Ina R. "Iatmul Art as Iconography (New Guinea)." Anthropos vol. 76 (1981), pp. 807–94; see p. 819.
Kjellgren, Eric. Oceania: Art of the Pacific Islands in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007, p. 82, no. 41.
Kjellgren, Eric. How to Read Oceanic Art. How to Read 3. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014, pp. 43.
Nuku, Maia. Oceania: The Shape of Time. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023, p. 95, fig. 41.
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