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BISHOP MUSEUM PHOTOS
A detail of a lei hulu is one of the images on view on the Bishop Museum's ethnology web site.
Thanks to the Internet, it's possible to view some of Bishop Museum's historic Pacific region treasures without leaving home.
By Star-Bulletin Staff
Photographs and detailed information on more than 400 items from the museum's collection of 70,000 cultural objects are now available at its new ethnology Web site.
The page displays photographs in nine categories including surfboards, quilts, feather capes, pounders, shark-skin hula drums and wooden bowls.
Click on one of the pictures to see more objects, along with a few details of their construction.
BISHOP MUSEUM PHOTOS
The Bishop Museum's ethnology database describes 400 items from the museum's Pacific collection, including the Queen Emma cape fashioned in an i'iwi and o'o pattern.
Among the most interesting items are the feather capes, made only for Hawaii's royalty. Their bold graphic design give an idea of the Hawaiian sense of artistry and aesthetics, as do the many examples of kapa, or barkcloth.
Bishop Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop as a tribute to his wife Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the last descendant of the royal Kamehameha dynasty.
Located at 1525 Bernice St., the museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission is $14.95 for adults and $11.95 for youths ages 4 to 12, with special rates for kamaaina, seniors and military. Children under age 4 and Bishop Museum Association members are admitted free. For more information, call 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
