This is a large and rare canoe paddle fragment from Sissano Lagoon on Papua New Guinea’s West Sepik coast. This area is/was renowned for their beautiful and intricately carved canoe paddles up until the deadly tsunami of 1998 wiped the four villages in the area off the map killing over 4000 people. This fragment was collected in the 1960s and comes from the Fortess Colllection of Hawaii. It is carved from a dense hardwood, has a nice brown patina and there is some erosion to the motif on one side of the blade. The piece stands 38" in height, dates to the 1930s. sold