Wooden Poi Bowl
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1838 to 1842
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. John L. Fox
label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: SMALL WOODEN (POSSIBLY KOA WOOD) BOWL CARVED AND POLISHED TO A SMOOTH FINISH. THE BOTTOM IS ALMOST FLAT, AND THERE ARE CRACKS IN THE WOOD ON EITHER SIDE AND SMALL (NAIL?) HOLES IN THE BOTTOM AND NEAR THE RIM. HAS ORIGINAL PEALE TAG; WRITTEN ON BOWL, IN CHARLES PICKERING'S HAND, "POI DISH, SANDWICH ISL. BY J.L. FOX EX EX". EXAMINED BY KENNETH P. EMORY, BISHOP MUSEUM, JUNE 1941, WHO IDENTIFIED IT AS AN OPAKA BOWL. ACCORDING TO PIILANI, MINNIE AND WILLIAM KAAWALOA, 1985, IT IS CALLED AN "UMEKE," AND MADE OF KOA. EXHIBITED MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 1985-86. EXHIBITED SITES "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS," 1987-89.
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "WOODEN BOWL. 8.7" OUTSIDE DIA. AT MOUTH, 8.4" INSIDE DIA. 5" HIGH. ALMOST FLAT BOTTOM 5.5" DIA. AN OPAKA BOWL, NATURAL FINISH. (THIS INFORMATION GIVEN BY K. P. EMORY, BISHOP MUSEUM, 6/24/41). INVENTORIED 1975."
label: Notes
content: 'Umeke kou pālewa - Bowl ('umeke) made of kou wood (Cordia subcordata) carved short and wide (pālewa type). According to Jamison Ke'a Rosehill, 2024, this 'umeke was machine-carved in the early post-contact period (late 18th century). The flat bottom indicates it was made for a modern table. Typical 'umeke are shaped with a thin rim and gradually thicken to a rounded bottom for stability. Height: 4.5"; diameter at rim: 9.5". 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: 15 Nov 2024
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: 66A00050
label: USNM Number
content: E3536-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Bowl
physicalDescription: label: Width - Object
content: 23 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 11.5 cm
label: Diameter - Base
content: 14 cm
label: Diameter - Rim
content: 22 cm