Hawaiian
Mid to late 19th century
Kou wood (Cordia subcordata)
Height: 5 in. (12.7 cm); Diameter: 7 1/8 in. (18.1 cm)
Provenance: Patrick Morgan, Corona del Mar, CA; Mark and Carolyn Blackburn collection, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Publication: Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection, University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2010, no. 683, p. 393
Covered kou wood bowls of this type were lathe-turned by Chinese craftsmen in Hawaiʻi and produced as part of larger sets for use at poi suppers and luʻau. Comparable sets are documented in connection with the luʻau held for King Kalākaua in 1876 on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, situating objects of this type within a specific period of cross-cultural production in the Hawaiian Kingdom. This example is published in the Blackburn Collection catalogue of 2010.
The bowl and fitted cover are turned from kou wood, the grain displaying the characteristic warm amber and deep reddish-brown figuring of the material. The cover seats cleanly on a raised collar rim, the two elements turned to close tolerances. The kou has developed a deep, even patina consistent with age and careful preservation within two documented collections.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Hawaiian
Mid to late 19th century
Kou wood (Cordia subcordata)
Height: 5 in. (12.7 cm); Diameter: 7 1/8 in. (18.1 cm)
Provenance: Patrick Morgan, Corona del Mar, CA; Mark and Carolyn Blackburn collection, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Publication: Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection, University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2010, no. 683, p. 393
Covered kou wood bowls of this type were lathe-turned by Chinese craftsmen in Hawaiʻi and produced as part of larger sets for use at poi suppers and luʻau. Comparable sets are documented in connection with the luʻau held for King Kalākaua in 1876 on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, situating objects of this type within a specific period of cross-cultural production in the Hawaiian Kingdom. This example is published in the Blackburn Collection catalogue of 2010.
The bowl and fitted cover are turned from kou wood, the grain displaying the characteristic warm amber and deep reddish-brown figuring of the material. The cover seats cleanly on a raised collar rim, the two elements turned to close tolerances. The kou has developed a deep, even patina consistent with age and careful preservation within two documented collections.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
