This calabash is made of a type of pandanus wood, which is the only wood that was used to make this particular type of medicine bowl or ipu la'au lapa'au. These bowls were used specifically for the purpose of holding medicinal herbs and concoctions related to healing.



This style was made in the early 1800's and seems to have been made with wood chisel tools rather than any type of turning lathe. The dimensions are: 5.5 inches at the mouth, about 8" at it's girth, and about 10" tall.



In ancient Hawai'i the wood of various trees was used to make bowls and other dishes. A stone adze and stone chisel was used to hollow out the bowl, which was eventually rubbed smooth with rough lava rocks ('a'a) and then coral ('ako'ako'a). The bowl was finished by rubbing it with pumice ('ana) or an 'o'io, which is a special stone used for polishing. The final polishing was accomplished using the skin of a shark or stingray, followed by a rubbing with the oil of kukui (Aleurites moluccana, candlenut).



Older calabashes often became dry and cracked, and were repaired using a kui iwi (bone awl) and thread made from olona (Touchardia latifolia) in a process known as pahono, which means, "to mend or sew." This calabash was repaired in such a style not long after it was created (the thread is covered on the inside by the coating that was used for waterproofing).



In addition to the repair (which, I believe, adds an additional layer of depth of interest and value), there are some obvious age-related signs - termites feasted on the bottom but never made it all the way through; two chips are evident in the rim.



A not-often-seen aspect of this calabash is the embroidered rim. This was done to denote a calabash of special purpose.

I have a bedroom suite consisting of:

one full/double Sleigh Bed - the ends are solid, curved and with no carvings

one highboy with tilt mirror - also curved on the front edges, but flat across the drawer area, there are 4 large full size drawers on the bottom part and 2 narrow taller drawers and two narrow shorter drawers in the top section, every drawer has a lock and I do have the key

one vanity with tilt mirror- with some slight chips in the surface "veneers" on front, there are three drawers that can be locked

The pieces have "normal" wear and tear but are in generally excellent shape for being from the 1900's. They were in the bedroom of my great aunt in the early 1900's and she shared it with her sister. It appears to be mahogany or walnut or some other darker wood. The is no ornate carvings on these pieces. Just some curved parts to the front edges- top to bottom, left and right.

The paper/ cardboard tag on the back of the vanity says: Sterling Furniture Company Salamanca, NY Also handwritten in what appears to be pencil is- "Stateing 9 1/2 Toona"

Any help valuing these pieces would be most appreciated.

This is a 14 inch brass bell with a cradle, hanger, and 12 foot post.  We've had it for twenty years. An older neighbor of ours had given it to us. He said it was from the J&L steel mill and was used to alert the workers of breaks.Nobody else has any idea about where it is from. Please let me know if you have any opinions or offers. Thanks

Got it on the side of the road, someone throughing it out, free.   has a sticker on the side of it "white star lines"

what would be a good price to sell it for?    built by william bal co. 

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Wondering if anyone knows anything about these bottles. The small ones are roughly 3 1/2 " high, with glass stoppers, some with a plastic/ old rubber kind of bottom to the stopper. The larger bottles are about 5-6" high and have a plastic-type stopper to them. I think they may be old medicine bottles, but not sure of the date or what type of medicine, would love any info on these, thank you!

two pictures i have ..... i am looking for approximate value and offering for sale this antique hutch currently in west denver. (not items inside) the most prized piece in my mother's collection she will not be able to take to her next location.