Skip to main content
Fishnet Float (Kopalla) - Image 1
Fishnet Float (Kopalla) - Image 2
Fishnet Float (Kopalla) - Image 3
Fishnet Float (Kopalla) - Image 4
Fishnet Float (Kopalla) - Image 5
Fishnet Float (Kopalla) - Image 6
Fishnet Float (Kopalla) - Image 7

Fishnet Float (Kopalla)

1900

Thumbnail 1
Thumbnail 2
Thumbnail 3
Thumbnail 4
Thumbnail 5
Thumbnail 6
Thumbnail 7
Scroll

Fishnet Float (Kopalla)

1900

Physical Qualities Wood, pigment, 4 5/16 x 3 9/16 x 8 1/2 in. (11 x 9 x 21.6 cm.)
Credit Line Gift of Alan Wurtzburger
Object Number 1955.251.128
A boy rides a giant turtle. A man grinds fish bait in a mortar [1955.251.129]. Two people hold the fish they have caught [1955.251.125]. These simple moments between humans and the ocean are captured by these sculptures, which were once attached to fishnets and floated atop the water like buoys. Although Solomon Islands artists created these floats to help fishers keep their nets open, they also beautifully demonstrate the intimate relationship Oceanic societies had with the sea. In the 1890s, Solomon Islanders described these objects using the word debbleum, a term used to identify objects that interacted with the spirit beings who lived in the natural world.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by gift, 1955; Alan Wurtzburger; Museum of Melbourne?; Museum of Victoria; Mr. Graham Officeran officer stationed in Roviana Lagoon 1901;
Oceanic Gallery Rotations 2021

Oceanic Gallery Rotations 2022

Oceanic Gallery Rotations 2023

Oceanic Wing Rotations 2025
Schuster, Carl. "Some Artistic Parallels Between Tanimber, the Solomon Islands and Easter Island". Cultureel Indie. (8). pg. 1-8.
Douglas F. Fraser & Paul S. Wingret, "The Wurtzburger Collection of Oceanic Art" , BMA 1956 pg. 35. cat no. 128.
Fernstrom, Katherine W. "The Alan Wurtzburger Oceanic Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art". Pacific Arts. July 1997. pg. 92.
Kevin Tervala, "Oceanic Art at The Baltimore Museum of Art," Tribal Arts Magazine 104 (Summer 2022): 106-113. Illustrated on pg. 110.
Howarth, Crispin, and Deborah Waite. Varilaku: Pacific Arts from the Solomon Islands. National Gallery of Australia, 2011.

Explore the Collection Further

Solomon Islands
Fishnet Float (Kopalla)
1900–1932
Solomon Islands
Fishnet Float (Kopalla)
1900–1932
Dale Chihuly
Float Drawing
1996
Cornelis Schut
Virgin, with Floating Draperies, Embraced by Child
1616–1654
Cornelis Schut
Three Children Floating on Clouds, One Holding a Scarf
1616–1654
Louise Nevelson
Floating Cloud 10
1976
James C. Allen, François Thomas Louis Francia, and others
Floating Dock at Rotherhithe
1840–1830
Édouard Manet and J. Lefman
That Shadow That Lies Floating on the Floor (The Chair)
1874
Édouard Manet and J. Lefman
That Shadow That Lies Floating on the Floor (The Chair)
1874
Makah
Float with Blossom and Duck Designs
1939
Isamu Noguchi
Floating Lunar
1942–1951
Roland L. Freeman
Fisherman 'Butter' Fields Weaving Fishnet, Mississippi
1974