IPU CRAFTED IN THE HAWAIIAN NI'IHAU METHOD

The smallest inhabited island in Hawaii, Ni'ihau, is at the northern end of the chain. Closed to outside visitors, they maintain a way of life with a rich history.

Centuries ago, the residents of Ni'ihau perfected a technique for decorating gourds (the Hawaiian word for gourd is ipu). These gourds were so rare and valuable that only the royalty of the Hawaiian Islands owned them. The use of gourds as containers slowly disappeared at the metal and glass containers brought by visiting sailors replaced the gourds. The art finally died along with the last practicing artisans in the 1800s.

Some found their way into the museums in Hawaii, and a few appeared in Europe, likely given or traded to important visiting traders. In the 20th century, a scholar from Hawaii discovered these, and was intrigued by how they could have been produced. The color was completely through the shell of the gourd, as if it had soaked from the inside out, but only where the design needed that coloring!

Through years of research, experimentation, familiarization with the natural dyes and gourds from Ni'ihau, and scientific insight, he came to understand this technique. In a nutshell, Ni'ihau gourds are dyed with a natural coloring that is poured into a green gourd. The secret is in the design. If you take a green gourd, and scrape or cut of the skin where you want no coloring, the remaining skin will "attract" the dye through the shell, up to the surface. Today, the few who practice this are often use coffee as the dye, thus the dark brown appearance of the coloring. I've seen other colors (mostly greens) from other dye materials.

You need the right atmosphere, not too humid. Today they use climate-controlled rooms; what the natives did hundreds of years ago remains in the realm of a few theories. You need to know when to stop, pour out the inner liquid (perhaps 2–3 months, and it does smell!), and peel off the remaining skin.

When to peel of the skin is a crucial decision; too early and the dye isn't complete, too late and the shell may begin to rot and the dye dissipate to adjacent areas where you don't want it.

If you do get it off at the right time, you are rewarded with a striking piece that is dyed all the way through to the interior, a deep dye that can't be reproduced by any other technique. Clean and finish it properly, apply the proper protective coat (again, there are several possibilities of the original artists on Ni'ihau), and you have a lifetime piece of artwork.

Primitive Originals is proud, once again, to be chosen as your source for these very rare and clearly historic pieces. But for the research and perseverance of one man, and the dedication of a group of artists from the Hawaii Gourd Society, these gourds might still only be seen as museum pieces from centuries ago.

Read more of this history and crafting of these pieces, with photographs of other examples, in the fall 2007 issue of "The Gourd."