Pipe Carved From Three Wheku Maori Culture, New Zealand Nineteenth Century

PIPE carved with three Wheku Maori culture, New Zealand 19th century Wood, haliotis, amber and metal H .: 5 cm; Long. : About 17 cm The wooden hearth is carved with two Wheku seen from the front, mouths open and tongues out. Their foreheads are marked with pronounced eyebrow arches underlined with incised lines referring to traditional facial tattoos. Their eyes are encrusted with small round abalone pellets. The wooden rod is incised with a stylized lizard or iguana on the upper part while the lower part is occupied by the stretched tongue of the central figure, engraved with the following words: "KIA.ORA" on a checkerboard background. The panties support a gold metal ring hallmarked and marked "Christeson" The pipe is straight, probably in black bakelite separated by a gold metal ring also hallmarked. This is probably a later replacement of the original hose. As opposed to. Tiki, the. Wheku is a sculpted representation of the face. It was mostly that of an ancestor, a Tipuna. Text and photos © FCP CORIDON