Only Hawaiians of the highest social rank could wear feathered capes and cloaks. They wore them on ceremonial occasions and in battle, where the folds of feathers and netting provided physical as well as spiritual protection.
Such cloaks and capes were called 'ahu'ula, or 'red garments'. Across Polynesia the colour red was associated with both gods and chiefs. In the Hawaiian Islands, however, yellow feathers became equally valuable, due to their scarcity. The cloaks were made by attaching thousands of small bundles of feathers to a base of net meshing, a technique unique to the Hawaiian Islands.
Feathered capes like this one were worn by those of a lesser status than the most powerful chiefs, who wore larger cloaks.
Cape styles varied over time. This one, for example, has a tight, rounded neckline, which probably imitated the style of European officers' jackets.
It was collected by the Russian voyager Admiral Von Kotzebue whose ship, the Rurik, was in Hawaii in 1816 and 1817. It was presented to him by Queen Namahana, wife of King Kamehameha I in 1817.
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