Name/Title
Hawaiian KapaEntry/Object ID
MK_0011Description
This exquisite piece is one of fourteen kapas created by renowned Hawaiian kapa artist Malia Solomon, commissioned by hotel founder Laurance Rockefeller in the mid-1960s, when he developed the hotel. Solomon utilized antique, undyed kapa, traditionally crafted from the bark of the Mulberry tree and estimated to be over 100 years old by the time Solomon acquired it.
Employing vegetable and earth dyes, she stamped the cloth with a pattern of black triangles filled with wavy stripes in reddish brown and black, two thirds of the upper ground colored blue, a third of the lower ground left plain, crafting a stunning and historically accurate Hawaiian kapa design - a homage to this centuries-old Hawaiian art form.
This treasured piece has been in the Mauna Kea's collection since 1965, when Laurance Rockefeller developed the hotel, and was very recently restored and reframed.Artwork Details
Medium
Mulberry Bark Cloth, Vegetable PigmentsMade/Created
Date made
circa 1965Place
State/Province
Hawai'iCountry
U.S.A.Continent
North AmericaLocation
Area
5th Floor AtriumFloor
5th FloorBuilding
Main Tower* Untyped Location
Storage ShedFloor
7th FloorBuilding
Main Tower* Untyped Location
Storage ShedFloor
5th FloorBuilding
Main TowerFloor
5th FloorBuilding
Main TowerFloor
7th FloorBuilding
Main Tower