Bowl <Vessel>

Carved from a single piece of wood in the shape of a bird with wings along the edge, four feet and obvious signs of wear. Such bowls were used on the Admiralty Islands on special occasions as food bowls and were part of the bride price the husband's family had to give to the family of the wife. Viewed as valuable objects, they were traded between the islands. Depending on their origin, the bowls appear in different shapes, in addition to the bird head ornaments, with spiral handles, handles in human or dog form or completely bereft of ornamentation. The Freiburg specimen is extraordinary on account of the double bird motif. This bowl, as well as other objects in the Oceania collection, were collected by Wilhelm Lebahn, captain of the Imperial Navy survey ship »S.M.S. Planet«, on which the ethnologist, anthropologist and marine doctor Augustin Krämer was also travelling. The Lebahn collection was sold after his death by his brother-in-law Dr. Rudolf Plähn from Waldkirch. Author: Margarete Brüll, Translation: Timothy Connell