Title

Figure (akua ka'ai) made by Hawaiian Artist

Description

This figure is called a divinity sculpture and these figures were placed in ceremonial enclosures. This figure is also referred to as "god sticks" and this figure along with other figures would have been placed on alters, planted into the earth, or located on walls inside of temples. The design of this figure is a characteristic of Polynesian culture and it achieves a successful expression in Hawaiian art.

Semester

Spring 2026

Subject

Indigenous Art

Morton D. May

Saint Louis Art Museum

Hawaiian

Polynesian

Temporal Coverage

18th century

Spatial Coverage

Hawaii

Language

object description is in English and Native Hawaiian Language

Medium

Sculpture made out of wood and pigment

Source

Saint Louis Art Museum

https://www.slam.org/collection/objects/17547/

Is Part Of

Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas

Morton D. May

Identifier

1532:1983

Provenance

1850 - 1870
Richard Cuming (1777-1870), London, England

1870 - 1902
H. Syer Cuming (d.1902), London, England, by inheritance

1902 – c. 1946
Cuming Museum, London, England

1946 - 1948
Kenneth A. Webster, London, England, acquired from the Cuming Museum

1948 - 1977
James Thomas Hooper (1897-1971), England, acquired from Kenneth A. Webster; Estate of James Thomas Hooper

1977 - 1983
Morton D. May (1914-1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased at auction of “Hawaiian and Maori Art from the James Hooper Collection,” Christie, Manson and Woods, London, June 21, 1977, lot no. 185

1983
Saint Louis Art Museum, bequest of Morton D. May

Explanation of Omeka Map Location

This figure originated in Hawaii