COURTESY TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
This 19th-century pahu hula (hula drum) made of coconut wood and shark skin is part of the S.M. Damon Collection that was donated to the Bishop Museum. CLICK FOR LARGE
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Museum gets $1M gift of artifacts
The donation from the Damon Estate includes more than 600 items
The Samuel Mills Damon Estate has donated to the Bishop Museum $1 million in Hawaiian and Pacific artifacts including gourds, fish baskets, kapa beaters, anvils, spears and hair combs.
"We are deeply grateful and humbled by the magnitude and cultural significance of this exquisite offering," said Bill Brown, president of Bishop Museum, in a news release.
The collection, made up of more than 600 Hawaiian and Pacific artifacts, is one of the largest gifts from old Hawaii that Bishop Museum has received. A larger bequeathal was a set of items including heirlooms belonging to Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop and Queen Liliuokalani given to the museum at its inception, Brown said yesterday.
Damon, who died in 1924, and Bishop's husband, museum founder Charles Reed Bishop, were friends and business partners in Bishop & Co. Damon also served as a trustee for Bishop Museum, according to a news release.
COURTESY TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Items from the S.M. Damon Collection donated to the Bishop Museum include 19th-century hue wai with koko (water gourds with sennit cordage). CLICK FOR LARGE
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Damon's last grandchild, Joan Damon Haig, died on Nov. 9, 2004, marking the end of the estate.
Among the properties held in trust was the collection that was on a series of loans to Bishop Museum, the earliest loan dating to the 1920s.
Timothy Johns, chief operating officer for the Estate of Samuel Mills Damon, said Damon family members wanted to give the artifacts to the museum to ensure that the collection of historical and cultural significance remains available to museum officials, students and the public for future generations.
Relatives dubbed the collection the "S.M. Damon Collection."
COURTESY TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
19th-century ipu baka (tobacco pipes) made of wood and metal. CLICK FOR LARGE
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"I am very pleased to see that the Damon Estate trusts the Bishop Museum to be a good steward of these objects and keep them in perpetuity for the people of Hawaii and to visit, see and learn about," Brown said.
One of the artifacts in the collection is a wooden shark figure displayed near the museum's entrance. Some are described as predating Capt. Cook's arrival in the islands in 1778.
Most of the artifacts in the collection are kept in vaults at the museum with controlled temperature and humidity, Brown said.
Museum officials plan to put some of the artifacts on display at the museum's Hawaiian Hall when renovations of the structure are slated to be completed in the fall of 2008.
In a news release, museum cultural resources Vice President Betty Lou Kam said, "It's exciting to have the S.M. Damon Collection as a permanent part of the museum. It not only provides a significant sampling of things Hawaiian, this gift is a statement of Mr. Damon's interest in Hawaiian culture and his desire to preserve and provide these treasures for use by future generations for their enjoyment and instruction."
