**First Time At Auction**

North Pacific, Hawaiian Islands, Maui, Lahaina, Pre-Contact Period, ca. 16th to 18th century CE. A finely preserved poi pounder of a bell-shaped form carved from brown-hued stone. The hefty tool is comprised of a rounded pounding face, a broad body with a carinated lower edge, a gently tapered handle, and a hemispherical knob tip that facilitated the movement and handling of the tool. The handle and top of the knob exhibit a pleasing smoothness that suggests this tool was used to prepare countless dishes of pulverized taro root known as poi. Size: 4.4" W x 6.75" H (11.2 cm x 17.1 cm)

Poi pounders, alongside adzes, were the most important stone tools in Polynesia and the Hawaiian Islands (Europeans introduced steel weapons). They are used for pounding cooked taro root into poi, a staple of the islander diet. Taro root was steamed in an earthen oven, peeled using shells, and placed onto a slab of wood to be pounded. The pounded results were blended with water into a highly nutritious paste. Traditional calabash bowls were used as containers to hold poi mixtures, and traveling royalty were accompanied by their own poi maker, with his or her own poi-making implements like this one.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This item falls under the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act and is not eligible for international shipping. Native American, Alaska Native, & Native Hawaiian objects are only eligible to ship within the United States.

Provenance: private Hawaii collection, acquired 2000 to 2010

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#177504

Minor nicks, pitting, and abrasions, otherwise intact and excellent. Great surface smoothness in most areas indicative of use, and nice stone color. Previous inventory number handwritten in black pigment atop petite area of white paint beneath pounding face.