canoe ornament

Wooden ornament, carved, for canoe, inlaid with nautilus shell - collected Santa Cruz

"collected by Capt Bongard S.S. Southern Cross" (eth register). Wood tablet form with arch at top and a three-dimentional figure carved within the arch. This figure has an earplug of nautilus shell and eyes also have nautilus shell inlay. Below this figure is a carved double-sided face which has nautilus shell inlay in eyes; on one face is cowrie shell inset into forehead region and the other side has an inlay of nautilus shell. One of these faces also has nautilus shell earplug insets, the other doesn't have inlay although ear is indicated.