Hawaiian Sculpture

Dust jacket notes: "Here is the first intensive study of the Hawaiian sculptural tradition - the most important manifestation of indigenous Hawaiian art. The men who produced this distinctive art are unknown, but the authors of this book, using ethnohistorical sources, have been able to surmise the apparent intent of the artists, their techniques, and their role in the preliterate, highly organized Hawaiian society. The authors have set as their task an analysis of Hawaiian sculpture in all its technical and stylistic complexity and in its social and cultural relationships. For this analysis the book will be valuable to students and laymen alike. So closely linked was the Hawaiian sculptural tradition with Hawaiian religion that the art, too, came to an end when the old gods were overthrown in 1819. Although many religious images were destroyed or left to decay, more than 150 examples of sculpture of the human figure are to be found today in public and private collections throughout the world. Seventy-seven illustrations within the text and a complete, detailed catalog, including [145] photographs, of all known pieces of Hawaiian figure sculpture in wood make this volume a valuable addition to the field of Oceanic art."