Tea and talk story with Nake'u Awai

Nadine Kam photos
Linda Lee was the guest designer at Nake'u Awai's June 1 "Tea and Talk Story" weekly event at Na Mea Hawaii/Native Books.

For three years, designer “Nake’u Awai” has hosted Tea and Talk Story sessions from 10 to 11:30 a.m. every Sunday at Na Mea Hawai’i/Native Books at Ward Warehouse.

The event features a different Hawaiian-culture guest each week, and started as his way of adding an extra dimension to his volunteer duties at the store.

“I just go through my phone book and call one of my friends, or I’ll meet someone interesting and ask, ‘Why don’t you come down and talk story?’ I never know where the conversation will go. We just start talking.

“Sometimes it’s just me and my guest, but I get the benefit because we talk about things from 20 years ago and I learn something that I didn’t know.”

Anyone is welcome to listen in while enjoying a simple tea service and a scone selection from local bakeries, at $5 per person. Guests slated to join Awai for the rest of the month are:

June 8: Lorna Pacheco, lau hala weaver
June 15: Reyna Keeaunui, kumu hula
June 22: Lelea’e, artist, actress, singer and granddaughter of feather artist Marylou Kekuewa
June 29: Brian Tolentino, ukulele player and member of Side Order Band.

This past Sunday he welcomed local Ming’s Jewelry expert Linda Lee, a collector of the jewelry pieces for about 17 years. You can read more about her collection in a story I wrote seven years ago.

As part of her informative presentation, Linda also brought in pieces by Ming's contemporaries to share with guests, such as this approximately 6-inch brooch made by Gugliemo Cini for the Waikiki Gump's store in the 1930s. Clothing was sturdier at the time to support such large pieces. 

The company was started by artist Wook and Shay Yung Moon in the early 1940s. Sterling silver and ivory pieces that would have sold to downtown Honolulu’s office workers for about $4.80 to $14.80 at the time now fetch hundreds of dollars.

One of the questions that came up was the value of signed vs. unsigned pieces. Lee said she generally has no trouble authenticating unsigned pieces which come up often because there were no rules in place in the mid-20th century, when speculation regarding collectibles was not on many individuals’ radar.

“They only had one stamp so if the stamp was in Hilo and they were working in Honolulu, they just signed it by hand.”

The handwriting varied from beautiful flourishes to jagged scrawls, depending on who was working on it.

“The signing wasn’t important then, as long as Ming’s was open.”

The last Ming’s store, on Fort Street Mall, closed its doors in 1999, and that sent patrons rushing to buy up the last remaining pieces. The advent of online buying and selling helped propel prices over the years.

In addition to the talent Mr. Moon showed in his hand-carved, hand-painted pieces, he was apparently also a superb marketer.

He dubbed junk jade that no one else wanted “water jade” to give it cachet, which gave way to the name “Moonlight Jade.” Occlusions, or flaws in the stones, were christened “clouds,” a more evocative, heavenly description that made the pieces more desirable.

No doubt he would be a contender for marketing awards if he and the business were around today!
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Na Mea Hawaii/Native Books is at Ward Warehouse, 1050 Ala Moana Boulevard. Call 596-8885 for reservations.

A tea cup and some examples of Ming's pieces, ranging from jade bangles to carved wood, and sterling silver pieces. The ivory maunaloa bracelet in the foreground was not Ming's but was made by another contemporary, John Roberts.

Isami Doi created this ivory and gold seahorse, comparable to ivory and sterling seahorses, unicorns and deer brooches he created for Ming's. The Art Deco fins suggest he may have created this particular seahorse for Gump's.

Ming's Jewelry artist and founder Wook Moon was inspired by nature to the point of creating leaves that appear to have been nibbled on by insects. 

The once ubiquitous plumeria is a classic Ming's design, available in multiple sizes. The design evolved over time, from being pointy to more rounded and compact, like the sakura, or cherry blossom.

Linda set the table with magnolia from her yard. It was so pretty I had to share it. The blossoms last only two days.
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Nadine Kam is Style Editor and staff restaurant critic at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser; her coverage in print on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Contact her via email at nkam@staradvertiser.com and follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Rebel Mouse.