Where is this bowl from?
What is its special purpose?
Who would have used it?
Answers:
Where is this bowl from?
This wooden bowl with tortoise-shell inlay, called a tanoa (lit. "bowl") is from Samoa, an island country in Polynesia. There are twelve pillar or legs supporting the bowl, and a cord of twined plant fibers looped through the bottom of the bowl.
What is its special purpose? Who would have used it?
This bowl was specially made for preparing and consuming kava, a root which is pounded in order to produce a juice with a calming psychoactive effect. In traditional Polynesian cultures the consumption of kava is often accompanied by a ceremony. This bowl was donated to the Karshner Center in 1934.
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