Maori Waka Huia Treasure Box

A mid/late-19th century waka huia, Maori treasure box. While high-ranking people used treasure boxes to store their prestigious adornments, the waka huia themselves are exquisite works of Art and personal objects that were highly valued, being handed down from one generation to another. A halo of tapu (sacred power) surrounds them because of the ancestral treasures they May have once contained. Since their power, the waka huia would be suspended from the interior rafters of a house to be kept out of reach, thus allowing the box's underside to be viewed from below. Of elongated oval shape such as a canoe, the surface is finely crafted and entirely carved with intricate motifs. The main designs are large rauru spirals configured to take advantage of the round shape of the waka huia, which appears to be enveloping its contents. The decoration of the lid is arranged around a central ridge with pakati notches (dog tooth pattern) and haehae (parallel grooves). The protruding wheku heads in high-relief at each end with inlaid paua eyes galvanize the object's aspect. The nose bridge sculpted as an extension of the forehead accentuates the vitality of the projecting jaw. The box is balanced, exquisitely detailed and distinctive with a beautiful dark-brown patina. Provenance: from the collection of Keith St Cartmail. Height 17 cm, length 70 cm, depth 15 cm.