Shark Reliquary ca. 1900 Solomon Islands This is an extremely rare Solomon Islands shark reliquary carved from a single piece of wood with a hollowed cavity at its center which houses a human skull. They were placed high up in the rafters of the boathouse where the canoes were kept and where men gathered to discuss important community business. Reliquaries such as these are primarily associated with sharks but also incorporate features of the bonito fish (Sarda Chilensis) of the tuna family. The body of this shark-fish hybrid is long and slender, tapering at the head into a long snout with an open mouth. Small fragments of shell inlay in the mouth have now broken off but would have represented teeth. The front pair of fins have broken off and one of the two dorsal fins is also damaged. A series of twelve smaller triangular pinnules run along the length of the back and six underneath the body. These feature inlay of triangular sections of an opaque nacreous shell. Further crescent-shape