Preamble
For your convenience, I have listed other posts in this series:
Hawaiian Quilts - Part I
Hawaiian Quilts - Part II
Hawaiian Quilts - Part IV
Introduction [1]
Hawaiians knew how to sew and work with cloth long before the Americans and Europeans arrived. For centuries before cotton and other natural fibers and finished woven cloths were introduced to the island. Hawaiians made their own cloth called tapa, from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. Note: tapa is often spelt kapa today.
Hawaiian tapa cloth is often spelt 'kappa' today.
Bed coverings made from tapa were called kapa moe a name that Hawaiians later applied to their cloth quilts. Tapa moe was usually colored and/or decorated. The concept of multilayered, decorated bedcovers was, therefore, not new to Hawaiians, who likened their bark cloth kapa moe to quilts brought by American and European visitors and immigrants.
Hawaiians kapa moe bedcover.
Once introduced to quilting, early Hawaiians chose to appliqué their quilts, without exception and they were appliquéd from the very first. By the 1870s Hawaiians developed their own approach to quilt design, filling the entire top of their quilts with a single large appliqué that was usually patterned after island trees, plants or flowers. The symmetrical and highly stylized designs were cut from a folded piece of solid-colored cotton cloth and appliquéd to a contrasting top, usually of solid white or cream. Early quilters could not be choosy about fabric. Although cotton was grown on Maui and Oahu in the nineteenth century, most cotton fabrics available to the islanders were imported and therefore were relatively expensive. Gins for processing cotton were evidently quite rare in Hawaii.
Kihapai Pua (The Garden Island of Kauai).
Artist Unknown (ca. 1915 Kauai).
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 68 x 69 inches.
Collection of Joan Manda Swearingen Mueller.
Quilters used bedsheets as the ground for their appliqué work and whatever they could find as backing material. Although many quilters used solid-coloured fabric, a number of early quilts have appliqués included red, deep blue, yellow, or orange on white. Pastel greens and purples were also sometimes used, and a few early quilters experimented with light-coloured appliqués sewn onto dark backgrounds.
Hawaiian Quilt Designs - Part 111 [1]
Artist Unknown: Na Kalaunu (Crowns) (Early 20th Century).
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand appliqué and quilted.
Size: 8.5 x 8.5 inches.
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu.
Gift of Mrs Charles M Cooke Estate.
Comment[1]: Quilt was made to celebrate the sixth birthday of Clive Davis, a prominent English businessman in the islands. This quilt's unusual color scheme replaces the typical high contrast of dark appliqué on a light ground found in most Hawaiian quilt designs with two rarely used colors of almost equal value and intensity.
Artist Unknown: Ke Kahi O Ka'iulani (Crown of Ka'iulani).
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand appliquéd with machine quilting.
Size: 88.5 x 84 inches.
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu.
Gift of Mrs Richard A Cooke.
Comment [1]: This quilt honours Princess Victoria Ka'iulani, the niece of Queen Liliuokalani. The complex pattern represents the princess' hair combs, which are embellished with crowns and leaf leis. Eight-pointed stars are cut into the tops and bottoms of the plume-shaped combs and five-pointed stars are placed on either side of each comb. Eight larger five-point stars are set within the field of the central design and another eight at the quilts outside corners and mid-point; these undoubtedly represent the eight major islands of Hawaii.
Artist: kelli'iahonui Richard (1910): Embroidered Annexation Quilt.
Materials and Techniques: Oahu. Cottons, hand embroidered and quilted.
Size: 76 x 72 inches.
Collection of Elizabeth Akana.
Comment [1]: This early twentieth-century quilt is decorated with embroidery stitches rather than the more commonly seen cutout appliqué pattern. The design is built on repetitions of the Hawaiian coat of arms. This coat of arms includes both the royal Hawaiian flag and a stylized rendition of the American flag, with a single star in its field. The paired flags symbolise unity with the territory and its new government, the USA.
Artist: Unknown (ca. 1880): Hawaii Ponoi (Hawaii's Own).
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 72 x 74 inches.
Private Collection.
Comment [1]: This quilt carries only a single crown framed by cross laurel branches.
Artist: Unknown (ca. 1915): Nani Ahiahi (Beautiful Evening).
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 78 x 78 inches.
Mission Houses Museum, Honolulu.
Comment [1]: Nani Ahiahi means "beautiful evening", perhaps metaphorically referring to the end of the Hawaiian kingdom. The quilt's central medallion consists of a representation of the earliest Hawaiian coat of arms, which was adopted in 1845 and considerably altered in 1883. It is possible that the design dates as far back as the adoption of the coat of arms, and probable that it was first made before 1883.
Artist: Mary Manoi (ca. 1912-30): Anthurium.
Materials and Techniques: Maui. Cottons, hand pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 91.5 x 84.5 inches.
Private Collection.
Comment [1]: Anthurium is one of the signature flowers of Hawaii, outranking even orchids in popularity among the island's florists. This quilt was assembled in 1912, but was not completed until 1930, when contour quilting was added. While most Hawaiian floral designs move from the center outward, this quilt's unusual design reverses that standard pattern.
Artist: Unknown (ca. 1930): Awapuhi (Red Ginger).
Materials and Techniques: Maui. Cottons, hand pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 78 x 69 inches.
Collection of Dr C S McGill.
Comment [1]: Awapuhi or Hawaiian ginger is native to the island. The range of plants that have served as inspirations for Hawaiian quilts is nearly as broad as the islands' diverse flora itself. Despite the ginger plant's familiarity it has inspired relatively few quilt designs.
Artist: Maria Namahoe Kelly (ca. 1921): Kukui O Lono (Lamp of Lono).
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 87 x 77 inches.
Private Collection.
Comment [1]: This quilt was a collaboration between Maria Namahoe Kelly and her young daughters. Meali'i, whose married name was Kalama, grew up to become Hawaii's best-known and most honored quilt maker. The intricate lacy design is believed to have been inspired by decorative lamps at the entrance of Kukui O Lono Park on Kauai.
Reference:
[1] Hawaiian Quilt Masterpieces, Robert Shaw, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., China, 1996, ISBN 0-88363-396-5.
For your convenience, I have listed other posts in this series:
Hawaiian Quilts - Part I
Hawaiian Quilts - Part II
Hawaiian Quilts - Part IV
Introduction [1]
Hawaiians knew how to sew and work with cloth long before the Americans and Europeans arrived. For centuries before cotton and other natural fibers and finished woven cloths were introduced to the island. Hawaiians made their own cloth called tapa, from the bark of the paper mulberry tree. Note: tapa is often spelt kapa today.
Bed coverings made from tapa were called kapa moe a name that Hawaiians later applied to their cloth quilts. Tapa moe was usually colored and/or decorated. The concept of multilayered, decorated bedcovers was, therefore, not new to Hawaiians, who likened their bark cloth kapa moe to quilts brought by American and European visitors and immigrants.
Once introduced to quilting, early Hawaiians chose to appliqué their quilts, without exception and they were appliquéd from the very first. By the 1870s Hawaiians developed their own approach to quilt design, filling the entire top of their quilts with a single large appliqué that was usually patterned after island trees, plants or flowers. The symmetrical and highly stylized designs were cut from a folded piece of solid-colored cotton cloth and appliquéd to a contrasting top, usually of solid white or cream. Early quilters could not be choosy about fabric. Although cotton was grown on Maui and Oahu in the nineteenth century, most cotton fabrics available to the islanders were imported and therefore were relatively expensive. Gins for processing cotton were evidently quite rare in Hawaii.
Artist Unknown (ca. 1915 Kauai).
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 68 x 69 inches.
Collection of Joan Manda Swearingen Mueller.
Quilters used bedsheets as the ground for their appliqué work and whatever they could find as backing material. Although many quilters used solid-coloured fabric, a number of early quilts have appliqués included red, deep blue, yellow, or orange on white. Pastel greens and purples were also sometimes used, and a few early quilters experimented with light-coloured appliqués sewn onto dark backgrounds.
Hawaiian Quilt Designs - Part 111 [1]
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand appliqué and quilted.
Size: 8.5 x 8.5 inches.
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu.
Gift of Mrs Charles M Cooke Estate.
Comment[1]: Quilt was made to celebrate the sixth birthday of Clive Davis, a prominent English businessman in the islands. This quilt's unusual color scheme replaces the typical high contrast of dark appliqué on a light ground found in most Hawaiian quilt designs with two rarely used colors of almost equal value and intensity.
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand appliquéd with machine quilting.
Size: 88.5 x 84 inches.
Honolulu Academy of Arts, Honolulu.
Gift of Mrs Richard A Cooke.
Comment [1]: This quilt honours Princess Victoria Ka'iulani, the niece of Queen Liliuokalani. The complex pattern represents the princess' hair combs, which are embellished with crowns and leaf leis. Eight-pointed stars are cut into the tops and bottoms of the plume-shaped combs and five-pointed stars are placed on either side of each comb. Eight larger five-point stars are set within the field of the central design and another eight at the quilts outside corners and mid-point; these undoubtedly represent the eight major islands of Hawaii.
Materials and Techniques: Oahu. Cottons, hand embroidered and quilted.
Size: 76 x 72 inches.
Collection of Elizabeth Akana.
Comment [1]: This early twentieth-century quilt is decorated with embroidery stitches rather than the more commonly seen cutout appliqué pattern. The design is built on repetitions of the Hawaiian coat of arms. This coat of arms includes both the royal Hawaiian flag and a stylized rendition of the American flag, with a single star in its field. The paired flags symbolise unity with the territory and its new government, the USA.
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 72 x 74 inches.
Private Collection.
Comment [1]: This quilt carries only a single crown framed by cross laurel branches.
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 78 x 78 inches.
Mission Houses Museum, Honolulu.
Comment [1]: Nani Ahiahi means "beautiful evening", perhaps metaphorically referring to the end of the Hawaiian kingdom. The quilt's central medallion consists of a representation of the earliest Hawaiian coat of arms, which was adopted in 1845 and considerably altered in 1883. It is possible that the design dates as far back as the adoption of the coat of arms, and probable that it was first made before 1883.
Materials and Techniques: Maui. Cottons, hand pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 91.5 x 84.5 inches.
Private Collection.
Comment [1]: Anthurium is one of the signature flowers of Hawaii, outranking even orchids in popularity among the island's florists. This quilt was assembled in 1912, but was not completed until 1930, when contour quilting was added. While most Hawaiian floral designs move from the center outward, this quilt's unusual design reverses that standard pattern.
Materials and Techniques: Maui. Cottons, hand pieced, appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 78 x 69 inches.
Collection of Dr C S McGill.
Comment [1]: Awapuhi or Hawaiian ginger is native to the island. The range of plants that have served as inspirations for Hawaiian quilts is nearly as broad as the islands' diverse flora itself. Despite the ginger plant's familiarity it has inspired relatively few quilt designs.
Materials and Techniques: Cottons, hand appliquéd and quilted.
Size: 87 x 77 inches.
Private Collection.
Comment [1]: This quilt was a collaboration between Maria Namahoe Kelly and her young daughters. Meali'i, whose married name was Kalama, grew up to become Hawaii's best-known and most honored quilt maker. The intricate lacy design is believed to have been inspired by decorative lamps at the entrance of Kukui O Lono Park on Kauai.
Reference:
[1] Hawaiian Quilt Masterpieces, Robert Shaw, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., China, 1996, ISBN 0-88363-396-5.
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