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Mahiole

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Hawaiian feather helmet
Man Wearing Feather Cloak and Helmit (sic) attributed toRembrandt Peale.[1]
MaterialFeathers and plant fibres
Created18th century
Present locationvarious museums including theBritish Museum,London

Hawaiian feather helmets,known asmahiolein theHawaiian language,[2]were worn withfeather cloaks (ʻahu ʻula).These were symbols of the highest rank reserved for the men of thealiʻi,[3]the chiefly class of Hawaii. There are examples of this traditional headgear in museums around the world. At least sixteen of these helmets were collected during the voyages ofCaptain Cook.[4]These helmets are made from a woven frame structure decorated with bird feathers and are examples of finefeatherworktechniques. One of these helmets was included in apainting of Cook's deathbyJohann Zoffany.

Appearance

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A Mahiole collected byRobert Grayin 1789

While the Hawaiians did not wear hats, during times of combat the Ali'i chiefs would wear specially created wicker helmets that have been likened to the classic Greek helmets, and also coincidentally bear a resemblance to the headdress worn byLadakhBuddhist religious musicians. While the question has been posed if the influence is from the Spanish, the tradition comes from the northern coast ofNew Ireland.[5] The design for mahiole is a basketry frame cap with a central crest running from the center of the forehead to the nape of the neck. However the variation in the design is considerable with the colour and arrangement of the feather patterns differing and the crest varying in height and thickness. A number of museums have numerous examples in different designs and stages of preservation. A related Hawaiian termOki Mahiolemeans a haircut where a strip of hair is left on the head.[2]The image of the Hawaiian godKū-ka-ili-mokuis sometimes presented with a similar shaped head.[6]

Construction

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TheScarlet Hawaiian HoneycreeperorʻIʻiwi.

The helmets are constructed on a basket type construction which gives a light and strong frame. The frame is decorated usually with feathers obtained from local birds although there have been variations which have used human hair instead.[7]The plant used to make the baskets isFreycinetia arborea,a plant often used to make basketware.[8]In addition toFreycinetia arboreathe makers also used fibre from theTouchardia latifoliaplant[9]which is a type of nettle.Touchardia latifoliawas used to create string or thread to tie the feathers to the basketry.

The colouring was achieved using different types of feathers. The black and yellow came from a bird called the "((Mamo))"Mohoor "(('Ō'ō))" ʻOʻoin Hawaiian. There were four varieties of this bird. The last type became extinct in 1987 with the probable cause being disease. Black feathers were also sourced from the bird called theMamowhich is also now extinct. The distinctive red feathers came from the'Ī'īwiand the'Apapane.Both species are still moderately common birds in Hawaii. Although birds were exploited for their feathers the effect on the population is thought to be minimal[10]

Specialist birdcatchers in the forests usually took the entire skin of the smaller (( "'Ī'īwi" )) or the (( "'Apapane" )),because their red feathers covered the bird and were quite small. These birds were eaten for sustinence in that harsh environment.[11]Sometimes,in the moulting season, the ((Mamo)) and (( Ō'ō )) birds yielded plucked-out larger yellow feathers and the birds were then released*, but these larger birds were also valued for their smaller black feathers which mostly covered them, especially the (( "'Ō'ō" )), which was a favorite food bird as well, so it is likely that few (( "'Ō'o" ))were released, as reported by a prominent author of two generations earlier with far more living sources of old time information.[12]

Tens of thousands of feathers were required for each mahiole. A small bundle of feathers was gathered and tied before being tied into the framework. Bundles were tied in close proximity to form a uniform covering of the surface of the mahiole.[13]

Captain James Cook's mahiole

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When Captain James Cook visited Hawaii on 26 January 1778 he was received by a high chief calledKalaniʻōpuʻu.At the end of the meeting Kalaniʻōpuʻu placed the feathered helmet and cloak he had been wearing on Cook. Kalaniʻōpuʻu also laid several other cloaks at Cook's feet as well as four large pigs and other offerings of food. Much of the material from Cook's voyages including the helmet and cloak ended up in the collection ofSir Ashton Lever.He exhibited them in his museum, initially called theHolophusikonand later theLeverian Museum.[4]It was while at this museum that Cook's mahiole and cloak were borrowed byJohann Zoffanyin the 1790s and included in his painting of theDeath of Cook.[4]

Lever went bankrupt and his collection was disposed of by public lottery. The collection was obtained byJames Parkinsonwho continued to exhibit it. He eventually sold the collection in 1806 in 8,000 separate sales. (The British Museum failed to bid on these items as SirJoseph Bankshad advised them that there was nothing of value.).[4]The mahiole and cloak were purchased by the collectorWilliam Bullockwho exhibited them in his own museum until 1819 when he also sold his collection. The mahiole and cloak were purchased by Charles Winn and they remained in his family until 1912, when Charles Winn’s grandson, the Second Baron St Oswald, gave them to the Dominion of New Zealand. They are now in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Mahiole in museums

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Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu

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A 200-year-old Mahiole alongside a feathered cape.

TheBernice P. Bishop MuseuminHonoluluhas a 200-year-old mahiole and matching cloak. This bright red and yellow mahiole was given to the king ofKauaʻi,Kaumualiʻi,when he became avassaltoKamehameha Iin 1810, uniting all the islands into theKingdom of Hawaii.[14]

British Museum, London

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The British Museum has seven of these helmets.[7][9][15]The large red one pictured was obtained from the collection of SirJoseph Banks.Banks was a rich polymath who was particularly interested in botany. He sailed withCaptain Cookon his first journey of exploration and continued to keep in contact with Cook's further explorations. It is speculated that this helmet may have belonged to Cook's second in command,Charles Clerke.[15]Clerke's collections were left to Joseph Banks following Clerke's death on Cook's third voyage. At the time of his death Clerke was captain of the vessel following Cook's death.

The red British Museum helmet.

A second helmet differs in overall design to the first in that it has concentric bands of yellow and black against an overall red background. A hat of this design was recorded byJohn Webberwho was Captain Cook's official artist.[9]The British Museum also holds an example without feathers which shows how the framework was constructed.[16]

Museum of Ethnology, Vienna

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TheMuseum of Ethnologyin Vienna obtained some of its oldest exhibits from theLeverian Museumsale of 1806.[17]Baron Leopold von Fichtelpurchased a number of items for his museum in Vienna.[18]

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington

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TheMuseum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewahas four mahiole in its collection. Two were gifts ofLord St Oswaldin 1912.[19]The other two were purchased in 1948 by the New Zealand Government fromWilliam Ockelford Oldman,a collector and dealer in ethnographic antiquities.[20]The British Museum, The Smithsonian and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa believe that one of the helmets and its matching cloak were those placed on Cook by the Hawaiian chief Kalani’ōpu’u.[15][19][21]The particular helmet and cloak in question are similar to those depicted in Zoffany's painting.

History of the World in 100 Objects

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The feathered helmet from the British Museum was chosen to be one of the items featured in the radio seriesA History of the World in 100 Objects.The series started in 2010 and was created in a partnership between theBBCand the British Museum.[22]

Preceded by A History of the World in 100 Objects
Object 87 		Succeeded by

Tales From Te Papa

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Cook's mahiole and cloak are featured in the mini-documentary television seriesTales from Te Papafilmed in 2009. The series was created in a partnership betweenTVNZandTe Papa.

References

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  1. ^Spoked Feathered Helmet,British Museum, accessed September 2010
  2. ^abMary Kawena Pukui;Samuel Hoyt Elbert(2003)."lookup ofmahiole".in Hawaiian Dictionary.Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library,University of Hawaii Press.
  3. ^Mary Kawena Pukui;Samuel Hoyt Elbert(2003)."lookup ofaliʻi".in Hawaiian Dictionary.Ulukau, the Hawaiian Electronic Library,University of Hawaii Press.
  4. ^abcdTo attempt some new discoveries in that vast unknown tract,Adrienne Kaeppler,Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Washington DC Cook’s Pacific Encounters symposium, National Museum of Australia, 28 July 2006
  5. ^William Alanson Bryan (1899).A Key to the Birds of the Hawaiian Group.H. I., Bishop museum Press. p. 40.
  6. ^"'aumakua hulu manu Kuka'ilimoku (feathered image) ".Collections Online.Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.Retrieved28 November2010.
  7. ^abFeathered helmet (mahiole),British Museum, accessed 26 August 2010
  8. ^"ieie, ie".Hawaiian Ethnobotany Online Database.Bernice P. Bishop Museum.Retrieved28 May2018.
  9. ^abcFeathered helmet (mahiole),British Museum, accessed August 2010
  10. ^"Kauaʻi ʻŌʻō"(PDF).Hawaii’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy.State of Hawaiʻi. 2005-10-01. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2011-06-16.Retrieved2010-09-22.
  11. ^Hiroa, Terangi (1957).Arts and Crafts of Hawaii.Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press. pp. 217–218.
  12. ^Brigham, William (1899–1903).Hawaiian Feather Work (Memoirs of The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum of Polynesian Ethnology and Natural History Volume I).Honolulu: Bishop Museum Press. p. 10.Reprinted by the Kraus Reprint Co., Millwood, New York, 1974.
  13. ^Arcayna, Nancy (12 September 2008)."Cloaked in native culture: Kaha'i Topolinski preserves the art of Hawaiian feather work".Honolulu Star Bulletin.Retrieved20 November2010.
  14. ^"Bishop Museum Loans Rare Artifacts to Kauai'i".Bishop Museum, Honolulu. 19 October 2006.Retrieved21 September2010.
  15. ^abcHawaiian feather helmet,Highlights, British Museum, accessed 9 August 2010
  16. ^Mahiole,British Museum, accessed 27 November 2010
  17. ^"History".Kunsthistorisches Museum.Archived fromthe originalon 29 June 2011.Retrieved21 September2010.
  18. ^The Ibis, Series 3, Volume 3,Osbert Salvin, 1873, accessed 29 August 2010
  19. ^ab"Mahiole".Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.Retrieved4 October2010.
  20. ^"Object: mahiole".Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.Retrieved28 November2010.
  21. ^"Object: 'ahu 'ula (Feathered cloak)".Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.Retrieved4 October2010.
  22. ^"Hawaiian feather helmet".A History of the World in 100 Objects.BBC.Retrieved21 September2010.
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