Model found in my neighbor’s house.
My neighbor found a canoe model in his basement. The house is old. Like ours, it predates the 1906 earthquake and fire, so nobody knows how old. The fire burned all of the property records!
The model was in the basement when he bought the house. I’m not sure how old it is or how it got there or where its from, for that matter.
Its clearly a tacker. The connectives and whatever platforms may have existed are not longer there. The ama just looks clunky compared to the sleek canoe body. And what a sleek canoe body! I love the exaggeration of the bow and the elegance of the stern. Cool markings too. Too bad about the stubbed bow!
A quick look at Canoes of Oceania shows a potential relative on p235—from Samoa. Well at least the bow is similar. Same for the Tahitian canoe on 117.
Anybody have any idea where this might be from? Was it a just an island souvenir? Or was it a racing model?
Thanks!
Chris
more
still more…
The bow looks like that of a trireme…. Or do you think that is the stern?
I think that the part with the two points is the bow.
If not, they sure predicted that reverse bow thing!
But it is is a wavepiercer anyway! Guess that the upper pointy part of the bow is only for rigging and docking (probably for looks too), dont think that part will ever get in contact with the water.
I must admit it is a really neat boat, but i am allmost in love with the first picture in Luomanens third post about it. Image the stern half of the model mirrored to form a true shunter, that would be stunning looks!
/Garg
The connectives and whatever platforms may have existed are not longer there. The ama just looks clunky compared to the sleek canoe body. And what a sleek canoe body! I love the exaggeration of the bow and the elegance of the stern. Cool markings too
Looks to me like a master/apprentice combo. That or the guy died and someone else finished the model. 😉 Very beautiful lines
And, while I agree with you that the “forked” end looks like the bow, the dugout asymmetry kinda makes me think the opposite. Unless it is just a souvenir, why would the paddler sit forward of amidships?
You ask whether it’s a real model or island souvenir. Could be both…
Dave Culp
A quick look at Canoes of Oceania shows a potential relative on p235—from Samoa. Well at least the bow is similar. Same for the Tahitian canoe on 117.
I’ve browsed through “Canoes of Oceania” (both volumes). I agree there’s a similarity with the designs you refer to, but your neighbour’s model is so striking, that if it is based on an actual Polynesian canoe, surely it would have been featured in the volumes.
I suspect the canoe originates from somewhere else on the globe. My money is on South-East Asia, as some of the indigenous craft there feature bifurcated bows. The attached image is of a Kabang boat, from the Moken people of Myanmar. Not a complete answer, but it’s a start!
Cheers,
Paul
Here’s another South-East Asian craft. This original caption for this image says it’s an “outrigger canoe (jukung) from Lombok, Indonesia”.
I suspect the canoe originates from somewhere else on the globe. My money is on South-East Asia, as some of the indigenous craft there feature bifurcated bows. The attached image is of a Kabang boat, from the Moken people of Myanmar. Not a complete answer, but it’s a start!
Man oh man, I gotta know more about that sail! Yes, I understand sails made of plaited grasses, but that looks like a roll-up bamboo patio shade! And in offshore conditions. Please, tell me more?
Thanks!
Dave Culp
Please, tell me more?
Hello Dave,
All I know is what’s on the website that the photo comes from: Moken Legacy Projects
Going back to the model ... it’s still somewhat of a puzzle. The bow hints more strongly of a South-East Asian origin, than a Polynesian one. The struts of the token outrigger float imply that its Polynesian, and not South-East Asian. The stern, if it is that, is quite different to the full-sized canoes and outriggers whose designs are “known” to us, regardless of their origin.
The designs on the side resemble crop-circles.
(fanning the flames) But seriously, I love this kind of thing.
Another interesting clue is how far forward it carries its buoyancy. The stern is extremely slender.
Who else built canoes like that?
Another interesting clue is how far forward it carries its buoyancy. The stern is extremely slender.
Who else built canoes like that?
My question also is who built connectives with just one strut back then?
It’s a magnificent model but am beginning to believe it didn’t reflect a real craft.
Another thought, unless there were some seriously oblate cross section logs available I don’t believe someone would throw (hew, hack and burn) away that much good material.
Skip
My question also is who built connectives with just one strut back then?
It’s a magnificent model but am beginning to believe it didn’t reflect a real craft.
Another thought, unless there were some seriously oblate cross section logs available I don’t believe someone would throw (hew, hack and burn) away that much good material.
Skip
I suspect you may be right, Skip, but I can easily believe in someone “throwing away that much good material.” This is the quintessence of touting one’s wealth. To be financially able to chuck half the volume and half the carrying capacity simply in order to increase the pleasure of the visual effect is precisely what rich people have always done. 😉
Dave
You may be right but, I’d prefer to think it was a model hewn from the equivalent of a 2 X 6.
Cheers,
Skip