Koa Furniture - A Crafter's Legacy

Koa. Tall, straight trees with the strength to be carved into great voyaging canoes. Koa. When you see it, you understand why the radiant color and luxurious grain of the koa made this glowing wood the favorite of the royalty of Hawai'i. The Outrigger Waikiki lobby is graced with a unique, twenty-foot-long, koa cabinet and two koa tables, built by master craftsman, James Ferla. Both pieces were inspired by Hawai'i's early furniture makers; Wilhem Fisher and F.N. Ostremba; carvers to King Kamehameha, Lunalilo and Kalakaua. The finely crafted display case is filled with priceless Hawaiian artifacts on loan from museums and private international collections. These implements of daily life, including calabash bowls, fishhooks and stones for games of skill illustrate fine Hawaiian craftmanship that turns function into art.