Tene Waitere 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 and 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 a New Zealand lady living in Taupo in 1905 by Tene Waitere. Taken to America in the 1950s. Repatriated to New Zealand in 2021, 46 cm length.