La Gonave Bowl or Dish

Whilst perusing pictures of the National Museum of the American Indian's Haitian objects, we came across the above picture of a wooden bowl or dish found in La Gonave, Haiti. Given La Gonave's reputation at the time of Spanish contact as a center for the finest wood carving (producing some of the treasures of Anacaona of Xaragua), the above bowl may be an indication of what the fine wooden vessels and dishes used by Xaragua's elite looked like. Unlike the above dish, however, which possibly survived in a cave in La Gonave for 500 years, the wooden vessels, dishes, and duhos of Anacaona would have been in a much nicer condition. The 4 bird-like heads on this piece are a nice addition, stylistically similar to other avian and animal figures in "Taino" art.