Gordon Tang Ifit Umeke with Koa Pewa 4″H x 10″D $950

Description

Gordon Tang Ifit Umeke with Koa Pewa 4″H x 10″D $950

 

Gordon Tang’s traditional Hawaiian shapes are widely appreciated by collectors of Hawaiiana both for functional and decorative purposes. A number of people collect his bowls for poi supper, luckies!

‘Umeke

‘Umeke ‘ai is an honored implement in a Hawai’i home, for through the ceremony of eating poi one at a time from the bowl at the center. The ‘umeke ‘ai filled with kalo (taro) is considered the means of survival of the people of Hawai’i Nei.

‘Umeke la’au is the Hawai’i name for these containers or calabashes of wood, which were used for the storage, transport and serving of food in various stages of preparation.

Ifit

Ifit is the official territorial tree of Guam and is culturally important throughout the Mariana Islands. It is also called ifil or ifel and belongs to the legume or pea family (Fabaceae) and subfamily Caesalpinoideae.

Ifit’s species name, bijuga, is from the Latin “bi,” meaning two, and “jugatus” meaning yoked together in pairs, referring to the ifit’s leaves, which are light green and shiny. Ifit are even-pinnately, with leaves on either side the leaf stem (or rachis).  The leaves are compound (meaning they have multiple leaflets).  The leaflets alternate, with the rachis having one to two (rarely three) pairs of opposite, broadly elliptic, asymmetrical, coriaceous (leathery texture) leaflets about 3 to 4.5 cm long.

 

The dimensions listed in the ‘additional information’ tab includes packing for shipment.

Mahalo!

Gordon Tang Ifit Umeke with Koa Pewa 4″H x 10″D $950