52 



B RICH AM ON HAWAIIAN FEATHER WORK. 



quincunciallv. In many cloaks the feather tufts are so close that it is very difficult to 

 distinguish the knottings, but if placed one-sixth of an inch apart the surface is beauti- 

 fully covered, and they are sometimes a quarter of an inch apart withoiit breaks in 

 the surface. In some cases tlie vellow feathers have worn down to the extent of show- 

 ing the red feathers used for the pa'u, and even then the knotting is hardly visible. 



It is often stated that a cape in time becomes a cloak as the owner's means or 

 rank increase; that is, strips of network are added by a sort of exogenous growth, but 

 I have not found tliis to be the ca.se. The garment seems to be designed originally for 



a certain size which cannot be greatly in- 



l''-y.V^.>i%l^-f' 





creased without disturbing the balance. 

 And this brings us to a consideration of the 

 usual patterns. No great originality has 

 been shown, and the elements are geueralh' 

 triangles and crescents which in a flat de- 

 sign seem rather commonplace, but when 

 it is remembered that the folds of the cloak 

 when worn greatly modify the geometrical 

 arrangement of the triangles, whether plain 

 or spherical, it must be admitted that the 

 simple designs are admirabl\- adapted to 

 the purpose of decoration. An inspection 

 of the diagrams in the following list of 

 aliuula will show that, while there is no 

 great variety, no two were exadlly alike: it 

 is onlv in the modern copies made of dyed 

 feathers, or even of suitablv colored cloths, 

 that repetition occurs. 



I have been told by aged Hawaiians 

 that the pattern was sketched on white kapa, cords of olona or coconut fibre serving as 

 radii of the curves which are generally arcs of circles, but I have never seen any of 

 these kapa patterns; and indeed, as they were never duplicated they woiild not be pre- 

 ser\ed. There does not seem to have been much freehand sketching in this feather 

 composition, and although in .several designs irregularities appear these are due 

 probably to careless following of the pattern and not to artistic freedom oti the part of 

 the designer. 



There is nothing of the delicate variety and minute figiires of the Mexican 

 mosaics; the figures were all broad and even coarse, but in that were all the better 

 suited to the purpose intended, for it must be borne in mind that the primary use of the 

 Hawaiian feather cloaks was war-like decoration. The}- were a refined "war-paint." As 

 in mediseval Europe the vanquished knight was despoiled of his armor by the vi6lor, 



FIG. 46. KNOTTING OF A CAPE. 



