Wooden Poi Bowl
date: label: Accession Date
content: 14 Jan 1947
name: label: Donor Name
content: Princess Abigail W. Kawananakoa
notes: label: Notes
content: From card: "Height 19 1/4"; diameter at rim 19 1/2"; thickness of rim 3/8", greatest circumference 73". Tall umeke or poi bowl of kou wood (cordia subcordia). Exterior highly polished. Knot holes in bottom and sides repaired with single fitted wood inserts. Note: Specimen described in Princess Kawananakoa's Will as "A large hala-shaped calabash of kou, formerl belonging to Queen Emma." NOTE REGARDING SURFACE POLISH:- Dr. Peter H. Buck of Bishop Museum, Honolulu, in letter of Jan. 31, 1947 states: "I do not think that the high polish on the Hawaiian bowls is the result of an old technique. In early times, the Hawaiians smoothed down their bowls by rubbing with shark skin and finishing off with breadfruit leaves which hav a rough surface like sandpaper. In some Polynesian islands, wood was polished by rubbing with a smooth pebble or an ovula shell, but I do not think that the Hawaiians used this method. I believe that the high polish seen on some bowls is due to techniques introduced by European and American settlers. They probably used French polish or varnish in some instances, but I do not know what exact methods were used." Regarding this specimen, Clarice B. Taylor, in letter of March 17, 1947 states ... "Queen Emma gave hers to Queen Kapiolani (wife of King Kalakaua) who in turn willed it to the Kawananakoas.""
label: Notes
content: Object was on display in National Museum of Natural History exhibit "Na Mea Makamae o Hawai'i - Hawaiian Treasures", 2004-2005.
label: Notes
content: 'Umeke kou puahala - Bowl ('umeke) made of kou wood (Cordia subcordia) carved taller than wide (puahala). According to Jamison Ke'a Rosehill, 2024, puahala is named after the shape of the hala (Pandanus) fruit. Kou is a tree indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands and was the favored wood for making 'umeke as it is soft and easy to carve, resistant to wood-boring insects, and does not impart a bitter flavor. Once abundant in coastal and dry lowland regions, kou was nearly extirpated in the late 19th century by the kou leafworm (Ethmia nigroapicella).
label: Record Last Modified
content: 21 Apr 2025
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Hawaii (Hawaiʻi), United States, Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Hawaiian (Kanaka ʻŌiwi, Kanaka Maoli)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 170851
label: USNM Number
content: E384232-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bowl