Cassandra D'Cruz
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Lot 35
Maori Treasure Box, New Zealand
13 November 2018, 11:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$35,000 inc. premium
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Maori Treasure Box, New Zealand
papahou
length 20in (50.8cm)
Provenance
Kenneth Webster Collection, London, no. 1857 (label on underside of lid)
Wayne Heathcote
American Private Collection, acquired in 1993
"Originally, treasure boxes were designed to be suspended on flax cords from the rafters of a dwelling house, and therefore had as much carving on the underside as on the top lid. Probably many boxes had plain uncarved surfaces, but these were rarely collected.
An ancient regional type concentrated in the northern and western areas was usually called a papahou in reference to its flattened rectangular form. Most papahou have been carved with stone tools and feature the sinuous intertwined figures of Northland and Taranaki carvings from these areas. Papahou did not make the transition into the metal age, perhaps because the carvers from those areas suffered in the early epidemics or were involved in the destructive musket raids of the 1820s.[. . .]
Papahou, wakahuia [a later version carved in the shape of a canoe], and papahou whakairo [a smaller, squared-box shape] held the treasured feathers and ornaments owned individually by high-ranking persons. Being worn in close contact with the tapu heads of chiefly individuals, these ornaments and their treasure-box containers took on the tapu power of their owners. A very wide range of ear, neck and breast ornaments rendered in stone, bone, shell, teeth, ivory and precious jade nephrite were worn by both men and women, becoming treasured family and tribal heirlooms as they passed down through the generations." (Strazecka, Dorota C., et.al, The Maori Collections of the British Museum, The British Museum Press, London, 2010, p. 43)
Of shallow, rectangular flat form, recessed all around for the flat lid, with high-relief wheku heads with inlaid paua shell eyes at each end for suspension, ornately carved overall with exquisite detail throughout, the underside with alternating upward and downward wheku figures with paua shell inlaid eyes among a field of swirling designs; the top of the lid exquisitely carved with scrolling design and pair of wheku eyes at each end; superb dark brown, glossy patina.
length 20in (50.8cm)
Provenance
Kenneth Webster Collection, London, no. 1857 (label on underside of lid)
Wayne Heathcote
American Private Collection, acquired in 1993
"Originally, treasure boxes were designed to be suspended on flax cords from the rafters of a dwelling house, and therefore had as much carving on the underside as on the top lid. Probably many boxes had plain uncarved surfaces, but these were rarely collected.
An ancient regional type concentrated in the northern and western areas was usually called a papahou in reference to its flattened rectangular form. Most papahou have been carved with stone tools and feature the sinuous intertwined figures of Northland and Taranaki carvings from these areas. Papahou did not make the transition into the metal age, perhaps because the carvers from those areas suffered in the early epidemics or were involved in the destructive musket raids of the 1820s.[. . .]
Papahou, wakahuia [a later version carved in the shape of a canoe], and papahou whakairo [a smaller, squared-box shape] held the treasured feathers and ornaments owned individually by high-ranking persons. Being worn in close contact with the tapu heads of chiefly individuals, these ornaments and their treasure-box containers took on the tapu power of their owners. A very wide range of ear, neck and breast ornaments rendered in stone, bone, shell, teeth, ivory and precious jade nephrite were worn by both men and women, becoming treasured family and tribal heirlooms as they passed down through the generations." (Strazecka, Dorota C., et.al, The Maori Collections of the British Museum, The British Museum Press, London, 2010, p. 43)
Of shallow, rectangular flat form, recessed all around for the flat lid, with high-relief wheku heads with inlaid paua shell eyes at each end for suspension, ornately carved overall with exquisite detail throughout, the underside with alternating upward and downward wheku figures with paua shell inlaid eyes among a field of swirling designs; the top of the lid exquisitely carved with scrolling design and pair of wheku eyes at each end; superb dark brown, glossy patina.
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