A significant Hawaiian artifact stolen some two decades ago from a prominent Hawai'i family has been found and recovered with the help of Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa and a Hawaiiana expert.

Recovered this week was an akua ka'ai, or stick image, whose purpose was to be taken into battle or used in ceremonies. It is believed to be more than two centuries old and once the property of royalty.

The akua ka'ai was stolen about two decades ago from the ancestral home of the Vredenburg-Hind family in Kona.

The item is believed to have been in the possession of respected Hawaiian art collector, dealer and photographer Michael D. Horikawa.

Horikawa, during a brief interview yesterday at his Manoa gallery, denied any wrongdoing.

"I've been a collector for 30 years, a dealer for five," he said. "I have never knowingly bought or sold a stolen item."

He declined to discuss details but suggested that people look at his standing in the community.

Don Severson, a collector, dealer and appraiser of Hawaiian artifacts and owner of Hawaiian Antiquities and Tahiti Imports, said Horikawa first brought the item to him 20 years ago, asking his opinion of it.

Severson said he told Horikawa then that not only were there news reports that it had been stolen, but that he had immediately recognized it as an item that appeared in a photograph in the book "Hawaiian Sculpture, Second Edition," written by Jay Halley Cox and William H. Davenport, which was first published in 1974.

The item, Severson said, was believed to have been given by Mrs. J.F. Woods to Theodore Vredenburg. Woods, also known as Princess Kalaniana'ole, was the widow of Prince Jonah Kuhio.

Vredenburg's daughter Florence, who was known as "Coco," married R.L. "Robbie" Hind III, according to the book "Loyal to the Land, the Legendary Parker Ranch, 750-1950," by Billy Bergin. The family later settled in Kona.

"Any artifact that has got a provenance is very important — it's got lineage, just like a genealogy," Severson said of the item. "And it's got a totem image on it, which makes it very unusual."

According to Severson, after he explained its background to Horikawa, he said he "told him he should contact the family, and he said he'd take care of it. I never considered it after that."

Severson said he estimates the item is worth about $60,000 to $80,000 in today's market, although he said he never told Horikawa that.

Horikawa and Severson run in the same circles. In 2002, Horikawa got co-producer credit and was the photographer for a book written by Severson, "Finding Paradise: Island Art in Private Collections."

A member of the board of directors at the Honolulu Academy of Arts, Horikawa also is credited on the Bishop Museum Web page for being "key" in helping the institution prepare its picture gallery for opening next month. The online article goes on to mention the book Horikawa worked on with Severson.

Severson said two months ago, his wife, Betty Lou, was leafing through the Cox book and saw the artifact. She wondered if Horikawa had returned it and called the Vredenburg family to find out.

They were told it had not made its way back to the family.

"That was a shock," Severson said.

Severson said that after several unsuccessful attempts to contact Horikawa, he and the Vredenburg family asked Kawananakoa for help.

James Wright, Kawananakoa's attorney, said he was initially told by Horikawa that he had sold it many years ago.

Wright said he wrote a letter to Horikawa on Kawananakoa's behalf warning that if the item was not returned, the heiress had directed him to proceed with civil remedies to recover it, and to enlist the help of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum and the Honolulu Academy of Arts in doing so.

Shortly after, Severson and Wright said, Horikawa contacted Abigail's nephew David Kawananakoa, to whom the item was handed over.

The akua ka'ai is missing a small section that Horikawa is supposed to be helping to recover, Wright said.

What happens to the artifact now is unclear.

A member of the Vredenburg family declined to comment.

Said Wright: "Miss Kawananakoa's concern is that the artifact be returned to the family. Her hope is that all Hawaiian artifacts be preserved for future generations."

Severson said that he believes the artifact should be preserved and has received indications that may happen.

"These things need to be put in a museum so that native people can see their cultural heritage and learn from that."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.