Drinking bowl
Place: Tahiti & Society Islands
Category: Tools
coconut, coconut fibre, Tahiti and the Society Islands, h. 5.2 cm, Inv. Oz 395
Forster Register B.4: ‘2 drinking bowls made of coconut from Otaheite’ (= Oz 392 and Oz 395)
The flat bowl Oz 395 (H 5.2 cm) was made of a dark brown, ripe coconut, omoto (Henry 1928: 42f.). It has an opening of a triangular shape with a diameter of c. 12.5 cm. The inside of the bowl is finely finished and smoothly polished, while the outside has been left in its natural state. An almost square Forster label has been attached to the outside. At the bottom of the bowl, there is a natural bulge which is perforated. The remains of a finely plaited string made of coconut fibres are attached to this perforation. According to Forster’s annotation above, the specimens Oz 392 and Oz 393 are drinking bowls. The string apparently served to suspend the drinking vessel. Gundolf Krüger
Sources
Henry, Teuira, Ancient Tahiti, Bernice P Bishop Museum Bulletin, vol. 48, Honolulu, 1928.
Related artefacts
Drinking bowl, Inv. Oz 392
Drinking bowl, Inv. Oz 393