Early 19th Century Hawaiian Medicine Calabash / Bowl

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.