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Feather cape

Early 19th century
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
As a formal design element, the crescent had powerful asso­ciations. The Hawai’ian term for the shape, hoaka, applies to a number of concepts: the arc of a rainbow, the raised crest of a helmet, and, significantly, brightness and radiance. Its reference to glittering daylight or a flash of lightning evokes the very sources of divine power. Wearing a boldly designed, crescent­-shaped feather cape in the ritually significant colors of red and yellow was a strategic way for a chief to reinforce his embodiment as a divine being.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Feather cape
  • Date: Early 19th century
  • Geography: United States, Hawai’ian Islands
  • Medium: Red feathers (’i’iwi), yellow and black feathers (’ō’ō), fiber (’olonā)
  • Classification: Feathers-Costumes
  • Credit Line: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Museum Purchase, Huntington Frothingham Wolcott Fund, 1911
  • Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing