Cassandra D'Cruz
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Lot 32
Maori Pendant, New Zealand, ca. 1600-1850
13 November 2018, 11:00 EST
New YorkUS$8,000 - US$12,000
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Maori Pendant, New Zealand, ca. 1600-1850
hei matau
height 1 3/8in (3.5cm)
Provenance
Wayne Heathcote
American Private Collection, acquired in 1993
Exceptionally stone carved from pounamu nephrite jade in the form of an animistic fishhook.
As noted by David Simmons, the 'hei-matau is a nephrite fishhook ornament generally worn only by learned men. It represents the fishhook with which Maui fished up the North Island of New Zealand. His fishhook, made from his grandmother's jawbone, was baited with blood from his own nose. It plunged into the depths and caught in the gable of the house of Tanaroa, the god of the sea. According to the South Island, their island (Te Waipounamu) was the "canoe" from which the North Island was fished up. Thus, for the tribes of that area hei-matau have heightened significance, particularly those made from their treasured pounamu (nephrite).' (Mead, Sidney Moko (Ed.), Te Maori, Harry Abrams, New York, 1985, p. 235)
height 1 3/8in (3.5cm)
Provenance
Wayne Heathcote
American Private Collection, acquired in 1993
Exceptionally stone carved from pounamu nephrite jade in the form of an animistic fishhook.
As noted by David Simmons, the 'hei-matau is a nephrite fishhook ornament generally worn only by learned men. It represents the fishhook with which Maui fished up the North Island of New Zealand. His fishhook, made from his grandmother's jawbone, was baited with blood from his own nose. It plunged into the depths and caught in the gable of the house of Tanaroa, the god of the sea. According to the South Island, their island (Te Waipounamu) was the "canoe" from which the North Island was fished up. Thus, for the tribes of that area hei-matau have heightened significance, particularly those made from their treasured pounamu (nephrite).' (Mead, Sidney Moko (Ed.), Te Maori, Harry Abrams, New York, 1985, p. 235)
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