20A J^o, Hafia Kapa. 



the few specimens that have survived our regret is great for the hundreds, yes thou- 

 sands, that were ruthlessly destroyed in the "reformation" of 1819 without the slight- 

 est regard for their value as the best of primitive art. This general destruction was 

 mostly of idols and occurred before the arrival of the American missionaries, so that it 

 cannot be laid to their charge; indeed it was to the early missionaries that we owe 

 the few that have escaped destrudlion. As it is my purpose to illustrate the remains 

 of Hawaiian sacred images in another place they are onl}^ referred to here to show 

 that this people had both knowledge and skill in anthropomorphic sculpture. It is 

 generally admitted that the beginnings of plastic art are in the rude images of the 

 gods; but it is a curious fact that the Maori of New Zealand, so celebrated for their 

 fine carvings made few and exceedingly rude idols while making remarkably elaborate 

 images of their legendar}' heroes who had undergone apotheosis, and also of their 

 primary gods, but these were not objects of worship. Even the tiki that surmounted 

 the house gables in New Zealand did not come into that category ; they were supposed 

 to protect in some way the house and its contents, but in the way of amulet or charm 

 as the horse-shoe in more civilized lands protects the clothes-line from mildew or theft. 



The Hawaiians had few land animals whose forms might have been reproduced; 

 the whale, dog, pig and rat were the only mammals. The lizard was more or less sacred 

 and there are examples of its use in decorating the faces of gods. In the Bishop 

 Museum is a figure of Kalaipahoa (No. 132), whose eyebrows are marked by well 

 drawn lizards and this figure is repeated on chin and cheeks. Besides this moo the 

 niano or shark (an object of worship) was carved both in stone and wood so as to be 

 easily distinguished. There were birds, especially sea-birds, of which the natives of 

 the Solomon Islands made much use in their carving and flat decoration, but the 

 Hawaiians do not seem to have drawn or stamped them on their kapa. Of the 

 inhabitants of the sea, so important to them as a food supply, the Hawaiians had 

 many whose forms would lend themselves to decorative art, and indeed were so utilized 

 by other of the Pacific islanders (PI. 23). Such were the hammer-head shark, the 

 sword-fish, squid, brilliant colored chaetodonts and many others ; but our islanders seem 

 to have used only the sea-urchins of all the rich assortment in their kapa designs. 

 In the vegetable world of which they knew so much, we find none of the attraftive fern 

 leaf prints so chara6leristic of Tahitian decoration, nor the fruits not uncommon else- 

 where; yet the ferns of the Hawaiian group are very beautiful, and the flowers and 

 native fruits would elsewhere have been sought for their decorative qualities. 



I have endeavored to show that the Hawaiians had both the knowledge and the 

 means to produce designs representing natural objects both on the flat and in the 

 round in wood and in stone. They certainly did not possess the desire for decorating 



