Figure
- Gallery: Room 24
- Made in: Hawaii
- Date: 1790-1819
- Object type: figure
- Materials: breadfruit tree wood (Artocarpus altilis)
- Museum number: Oc1839,0426.8
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you stands a powerful temple figure known as a "ki‘i," carved from a single piece of breadfruit wood. It represents Kū, a significant Hawaiian deity of war and strength. This figure, known for its fierce, open-mouthed grimace and dynamic posture, showcases the Kona region's distinctive carving style.
Look closely at the four rows of stylized animal heads—likely pigs or dogs—flowing from the center of the figure’s face to the top of the head and even cascading down to the heels. Some believe these forms reflect the many shapes Kū could take.
Carved sometime between 1790 and 1819, this figure was likely used by priests at a temple to call upon the god. Just one of only three giant Kū figures still in existence, it remains an important symbol of Hawaiian heritage and spiritual tradition.
See it in person
Figure is on display in Room 24 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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