canoe maker

New BM Museum Maliseet Paddle Image

Here are some additional black and white images of a Maliseet paddle in the collection of the British Museum (see earlier descriptive post here). The photos are a bit grainy but the first shot at least shows the full length of the paddle to give an idea of its proportions. A closeup of the blade shows some interesting etchings which deviate from typical abstract scroll patterns...


The full description:

"Canoe paddle, hand-carved, with incised designs on blade and shaft. Blade decorated with an image of a man with a leister in a canoe, night-fishing, with his woman in a peaked cap to paddle for him, and a birchbark torch to see by. Both peaked cap and canoe are in Maliseet style. A second design shows a woman with braided hair, a hip-length jacket with ribbon applique borders, leggings with elaborated selvedge edges, moccasins; she is standing, with a fish in her right hand and a knife in her left. The paddle handle has a border of lines and cross-hatch, surrounding a Scotch thistle above a salmon leister's head."