Types of Carvings
Panels
Panels are a bold statement and can carry a wealth of messages and wishes. The format lends well to hanging but can also be integrated as furniture and as architectural features.
Wakahuia
Wakahuia are treasure boxes used to contain the respected huia feather
Canoe Bailer
Canoe Bailers are originally made to fit with spaces in a floor/deck, they are used to bail out water from a canoe.
Taiaha
Taiaha are used various ways, as a tool for training, fighting and also educating. Taiaha have three principle parts; the body/liver, the head and the tongue. The body known as the tinana in Maori, or the liver known as the ate are used to fend off and strike. The head, upoko in Maori is the area in which the tongue sticks out. The tongue or arero in maori, is used for fending off and stabbing the rival. The taiaha are normally 5 to 6 feet.
Wahaika
Wahaika means the mouth of the fish. Wahaikas are traditionally a Maori hand weapon, they are a short club that are usually made from wood or whalebone. There is a notch on one side that is used to catch an rivals’s weapon. It is used for hand to hand combat at close range.
Patu
Patu is a general term for a club or pounder used by the Māori. The word in translates to strike, hit, beat, or subdue.
Kotiate
On the battleground, Kotiake were treasured weapon, they were also favoured tools used during speeches by many chiefs. the notches on the weapon were used to wrap around the intestines and organs of the conquered opponent.
Wheku
Wheku are carved depictions of human faces. Wheku is often perceived as a koruru, the head of an ancestor depicted at the gable of a wharenui, just under the tekoteko.
TekoTeko
TekoTeko are used to pay tribute to the ancestors, they had meaning behind them as they were created with intentions and a way to tell stories. It is normal now a day for TekoTeko carvings to act as (Kaitiaki) spiritual guardians of their environment.
Ostrich Eggs
The continuous and intricate designs and detailing on carved eggs are extraordinary. Whether commissioned as a gift or an addition to a personal collection eggs invoke envy and conversation.
Bone Carving
Traditionally bone carvings are exchanged as gifts. Bone carving is a customary and often spiritual craft used by the indigenous people of New Zealand.
Jade / Greenstone / Pounamu Carving
Jade carvings are traditionally exchanged as gifts, jade carving are extraordinarily beautiful with mixtures and shades of green. The colour varies from a very light green to an extremely dark shade. These carvings both modern and traditional at the same time, they take a contemporary stance on a historical custom. A lot of the designs are based on Maori myths and legends.
Shell Carving
Shell carvings are exchanged as gifts traditionally, they can be made out of all types of beautiful shell. Each having a specific purpose and each having it’s own unique aspects about it. Paua are very vibrant and radiantly coloured shell with a rainbow complexion. These shells are often used as embedment in carvings of silver or bone.
Pacific Pearl shell are valuable pieces of the ocean. This shell is stunning when polished. There is the gold or silver-lipped shell and the black lipped oyster shell, the texture often swirl and change when the carving are shifted around.
A bone, jade or shell carving is a very significant and unique item that you can give to someone you cherish or to wear yourself.
