Large bowl for the beverage kava. Throughout the Pacific region, kava was and still is considered to be a beverage with the power to provide a source of identity for the drinker. In the traditional circles, it was a male preserve. Derived from the rootstock and the roots of the pepper plant (Piper Methysticum), kava is considered to have sedative, relaxing and euphoric properties as well as the effect of loosening the tongue. The agents responsible for these effects are called kavalactones contained in the plant and are released by chewing, rubbing or grinding and macerating in water. The large kava bowl comes from Samoa, but was not acquired directly there, but acquired in 1906 for the Municipal Collections via Karl Hoppe from Hamburg.