page_title: ʻAhu ʻula
section_title: Captain James Cook's cloak
hierarchical_section_title: ʻAhu ʻula / Captain James Cook's cloak
caption_attribution_description: English: The original ʻAhu ʻula and mahiole of Kalaniʻōpuʻu that was gifted to Captain James Cook in 1778 and now on display at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu Hawaii.
context_page_description: The ʻAhu ʻula, and the mahiole were symbols of the highest rank of the chiefly aliʻi class of ancient Hawaii. The feathered cloaks and capes were believed to provide spiritual protection for Hawaiian chiefs. There are over 160 examples of this traditional clothing in museums around the world. At least six of these cloaks were collected during the voyages of Captain Cook. These cloaks are made from a woven netting decorated with bird feathers and are examples of fine featherwork techniques. One of these cloaks was included in a painting of Cook's death by Johann Zoffany.
context_section_description: When Captain James Cook visited Hawaii on 26 January 1778 he was received by a high chief called Kalaniʻōpuʻu. At the end of the meeting Kalaniʻōpuʻu placed the feathered helmet and cloak he had been wearing on Cook. Kalaniʻōpuʻu also laid several other cloaks at Cook's feet as well as four large pigs and other offerings of food. Much of the material from Cook's voyages including the helmet and cloak ended up in the collection of Sir Ashton Lever. He exhibited them in his museum, the Holophusikon. It was while at this museum that Cook's mahiole and cloak were borrowed by Johann Zoffany in the 1790s and included in his painting of the Death of Cook.
  Lever went bankrupt and his collection was disposed of by public lottery. The collection was obtained by James Parkinson who continued to exhibit it, at the Blackfriars Rotunda. He eventually sold the collection in 1806 in 7,000 separate sales. The mahiole and cloak were purchased by the collector William Bullock who exhibited them in his own museum until 1819 when the collection was again sold. The mahiole and cloak were then purchased by Charles Winn along with a number of other items and these remained in his family until 1912, when Charles Winn's grandson, the Second Baron St Oswald, gave them to the Dominion of New Zealand. They are now in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.
caption: The feather cape given to Captain Cook.
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