19th C. Hawaiian Double Gourd Rattle, Ipu Heke

About Auction

Live

Connoisseur's Delight Fine Art & Antiquities

By Artemis Gallery

Jun 27, 2024

Set Reminder 2024-06-27 11:00:00 2024-06-27 11:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Connoisseur's Delight Fine Art & Antiquities https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/connoisseurs-delight-fine-art-antiquities-16181
Classical antiquities, ancient and ethnographic art from cultures encompassing the globe. Artemis Gallery info@artemisgallery.com

View Full Catalog (206)

• Lot Description
  North Pacific, Hawaii, ca. 19th century CE. A remarkable and quite rare instrument known as an "ipu heke" formed from 2 gourds of different sizes that have been painted red and hollowed out so the seeds produce a rattling sound or "kani" when shaken. The method of hollowing and dying this instrument was developed by the people of Ni'ihau (anglicized as Niihau) Island in the 1600s. Captain James Cook's journal for February 1778, describes seed-filled gourd rattles such as this, shaken or struck against the body or palm to accompany dances or "hulas." These instruments are played today in pairs. Song and dance have always been vital to Polynesian social and ritual life. In the Hawaiian Islands, performances were dedicated to various gods or goddesses by trained musicians and performers. Size: 7.1" W x 14.25" H (18 cm x 36.2 cm)
  
  The gourd or ipu plays an important role in the culture of the Hawaiian people, who are said to have 42 uses for the vegetable. More than just an instrument, the ipu was used for food, medicine, and a variety of other useful and artistic items. Because of the importance of ipu to basic life and culture, Hawaiians developed an entire ceremony around the planting of the gourd. In Hawaiian customs, the gourd plant should be planted on the night of Hua, during the full moon as it was believed to look the most like an egg or a fruit. The planting was done by a pot-bellied man who had just eaten a large meal to stretch his stomach. The man would then take the seeds and carry them as if they were already a fully grown and heavy gourd and drop each seed into the hole he had dug for it. He would suddenly pull his hands apart with his palms facing upwards. The reason for this was that the Hawaiians believed that if his palms were to face downward, it would cause the gourd to twist and shrivel. After the seed was buried, a chant would be recited that translates to: "A huge ipu! / Growing like a mountain, / To be carried on the back, / Really huge is this gourd."
  
  In the earliest origin stories of Hawaii, Papa, the earth mother, gives birth to a gourd. The progenitor Wakea then used the skin of the gourd to create the first sphere of the sky. Casting the pulp into the air, he forged the sun. The seeds became the stars, the inner white lining the moon, the ripe flesh the clouds, and the succulent juices the rain. The calabash created from the separation of the gourd became the land and ocean.
  
  Provenance: private Hawaii, USA collection, acquired via Freeman's Hindman, Chicago, Illinois, USA, October 2024; ex-property from the estate of Alexander Brody, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
  We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.
  
  #184908

  Condition

  Still functions as an instrument. Some nicks and small chips near base, as well as abrasions and staining due to age, but otherwise, intact and excellent with liberal remains of pigment.
• Shipping Info

  • All shipping is handled in-house for your convenience. Your invoice from Artemis Gallery will include shipping calculation instructions. If in doubt, please inquire BEFORE bidding for estimated shipping costs for individual items.

• Buyer's Premium
  • 26.50 %