Helmet
Museum accession register states “helmet ornamented with feathers. Sandwich Islands. Devon & Exeter Institution. Feathers of Drepanis coccinea.” Donated by the Devon & Exeter Institution in January 1872.
Height = 244 x width = 302mm
The feathered helmet (mahiole) was worn with a cloak or a cape to protect the head that contained a priest’s ‘mana’ or sacred power. The shape and featherwork decoration of cloaks and capes would have met the helmet to offer added protection to the head and the top of the back as these places were considered sacred and vulnerable. Touching a head would degrade or pollute the ‘mana’.
Helmets were constructed in much the same way as feather-god images. The base incorporated the ‘ie’ie vine (Freycinetia arborea) which could be activated by the addition of red feathers.
Height = 244 x width = 302mm
The feathered helmet (mahiole) was worn with a cloak or a cape to protect the head that contained a priest’s ‘mana’ or sacred power. The shape and featherwork decoration of cloaks and capes would have met the helmet to offer added protection to the head and the top of the back as these places were considered sacred and vulnerable. Touching a head would degrade or pollute the ‘mana’.
Helmets were constructed in much the same way as feather-god images. The base incorporated the ‘ie’ie vine (Freycinetia arborea) which could be activated by the addition of red feathers.
Object Summary
- Accession Loan No.
- E1775
- Category
- Ethnography
- Collection Class
- Religion and magic
- Material
- aerial rootsfeathersfibre
- Common Name
- helmet
- Simple Name
- helmet
- Production County
- Hawai’i
- Production Country
- Hawaiian Islands (United States of America)
- Production Year High
- 1872
