Cord Handle
1 of 4
Object Label
This decorated cord handle from a coconut shell or gourd container features carved bone toggles depicting important ancestors or deities. These toggles exhibit some of the defining characteristics of Marquesan figurative sculpture, including large, rounded eyes, a wide nose, a broad, thin mouth with a slightly protruding tongue, double scroll ears, and hands placed on a swelling belly.
Caption
Marquesan. Cord Handle, 18th or 19th century. Bone, seeds, coir, 23 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. (59.1 x 3.8 x 3.2 cm) For display: 12 x 6 x 1 1/4 in. (30.5 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, 38.638. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Cord Handle
Date
18th or 19th century
Geography
Place made: Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
Medium
Bone, seeds, coir
Classification
Dimensions
23 1/4 x 1 1/2 x 1 1/4 in. (59.1 x 3.8 x 3.2 cm) For display: 12 x 6 x 1 1/4 in. (30.5 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm)
Credit Line
Dick S. Ramsay Fund
Accession Number
38.638
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