Tene Waitere's Elaborate Ngati Tarawhai Waka Huia Treasure Box

A finely carved ngati tarawhai waka huia (treasure box) by Tene Waitere, elongated oval shape flanked by stylized human figures, each with three fingered hands placed to the abdomen decorated with fine rauponga (notched ridges and parallel grooves) each side centered by a carved wheku head with paua disc eyes flanked by manaia decorated with rauponga and with further rauponga decoration to the underside of the box. The lid with ancestral figures carved in high relief, each with a wheku head on a ground of interweaving rauponga detailing. Provenance: made for the current owners grandmother by Tene Waitere. Kept in the family collection since 1905. Recently repatriated to New Zealand from America, a similar waka huia carved by Tene Waitere sold by Webb's auctions in 2010, 46 cm length.