LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June African & Oceanic Art Auction #645  / 

48385

Maori (New Zealand)Main Structural Elements of a

Currency:USD Category:Antiques Start Price:22,000.00 USD Estimated At:25,000.00 - 35,000.00 USD
Maori (New Zealand)Main Structural Elements of a
<B>Maori (New Zealand)</B></I><BR>Main Structural Elements of a Maori Façade<BR>Wood (<I>totara</B></I>), abalone shell (<I>paua</B></I>), white shell, nails<BR>Dimensions: Barge boards (<I>maihi</B></I>) Length:104 ¾ inches Width: 8 ¾ inches Depth: 1 1/16 inches<BR>Length:106 inches Width: 8 1/8 inches Depth: 1 3/8 inches<BR>Uprights (<I>amo</B></I>) Height: 67 ½ inches Width: 9 inches Depth: 2 ¾ inches<BR>Height: 67 inches Width: 9 inches Depth: 3 1/16 inches<BR> Finial Head (<I>koruru</B></I>) Height: 13 ¾ inches Width: 7 5/8 inches Depth: 3 inches<BR><BR>While Maori pre-European house carvings are relatively small in size, those of the post-European period become larger, growing throughout the mid and later nineteenth century. Metal tools were instrumental, enabling as well increasingly elaborate relief surface decoration. This ensemble is given by the source to the East Coast of the North Island, the Ngati Porou tribe. Traditionally the elaborate houses were used as dwellings for hereditary chiefs and their immediate families. Some of the later, larger houses functioned as meeting houses.<BR> “Houses of superior types were designed with a certain symbolism in mind, representing the body of a tribal ancestor. The ridge was the backbone, the rafters the ribs, the slanting façade boards his outstretched arms, while a pinnacle mask was the ancestor's face “ (Terence Barrow. <I>An Illustrated Guide to Maori Art.</B></I> Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984, p.66).<BR>There is general age and use wear, both to the wood and to the shell inlays, with two shell inlays missing. There is an old metal-brace repair (on back) on the slightly longer barge board.<BR><BR>Provenance:<BR>Chris Boylan, Sydney<BR>Greg LaChapelle, Santa Fe<BR>Gary Hendershott, Little Rock<BR><BR><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Large Collectibles (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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