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kiʻi pōhaku / akua pōhaku

Simply worked figures made of (coral) stone with a suggested human figure or face were regarded as images of personal protective gods. Even after the introduction of Christianity in 1820, the honouring of these protective and family gods, especially among fishermen, continued for a long time. The stone figures are therefore often referred to as "fish gods", even though their actual meaning is no longer known. [UM]

Data Provider
Linden-Museum Stuttgart Staatliches Museum für Völkerkunde
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Cataloguing data

Object type
Figur
Dimensions
Breite: 14.5 cm, Höhe: 23.5 cm, Tiefe: 8.3 cm
Material/Technique
Stone
Current location
Linden-Museum Stuttgart
Inventory number
087674

Provenance and sources

when
19th century

where
Hawaii
who
Krämer, Augustin - Collectors

when
1913
Provenance
The object is part of a collection that the Linden-Museum received from the Royal Natural History Cabinet in Stuttgart in 1913. Augustin Krämer, who was the first director of the Linden-Museum from 1911 to 1915, acquired it during his stay in Hawai'i in 1897. Hawai'i and the Gilbert Islands (Kiribati) were stopovers on his journey from South America to Sāmoa (1897-1899). The exact circumstances of the acquisition are not yet known. [UM]

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