Massim. Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea.
Wood. H: 23.8" (60.5 cm), W: 9.5” (24.1 cm), D: .75” (1.9 cm).

Pieces of leaves for making grass skirts are scrapped on a cutting board to remove the dark green pulpy leaf covering and expose the lighter
fibrous interior. The board has a pattern cared into it and when the scrapper passes over the incised portions the flexible leaf gives way so
that the exterior adjacent to the depressions is not removed, leaving a dark, contrasting design on the lighter, scrapped background. The
process of scraping designs into banana leaves is called tagini. The men carve these boards for their wives or sisters.

Thanks to Hans Brueckner of Germany for providing the correct description for this board.

Ex: Private collection. Orange County, California.