Pāraoa - Whalebone

Toki earrings (or drop earrings) are designed to suspend from the bottom of the earlobes. The length varies from a centimetre or two, all the way to brushing the wearer's shoulders.

Material: Parāoa (Whalebone)

Measurements: 67mm x 13mm x 3mm

Toki earrings (or drop earrings) are designed to suspend from the bottom of the earlobes. The length varies from a centimetre or two, all the way to brushing the wearer's shoulders.

Material: Parāoa (Whalebone)

Measurements: 75mm x 15mm x 3mm

Toki earrings (or drop earrings) are designed to suspend from the bottom of the earlobes. The length varies from a centimetre or two, all the way to brushing the wearer's shoulders.

Material: Parāoa (Whalebone)

Measurements: 66mm x 14mm x 4mm

Toki earrings (or drop earrings) are designed to suspend from the bottom of the earlobes. The length varies from a centimetre or two, all the way to brushing the wearer's shoulders.

Material: Parāoa (Whalebone)

Measurements: 70mm x 9mm x 5mm

Aurei were customarily used as a pin for fastening cloaks and may be made from bone, stone, wood or shell. They may also have been worn through the ear as an earring or around the neck as a pendant. Aurei are still commonly worn as pendants and earrings and as with most Māori personal adornments, are often passed down generationally.

Material: Parāoa (Whalebone)

Measurements: 142mm x 15mm x 23mm

Material: Parāoa (Whalebone)

Measurements: 69mm x 22mm

In Māori carving there are three predominant designs for heads: the ‘wheku’ with the long eyes; and the ‘ruru’, which also has round eyes but with a point at the top. The different designs were used by carvers to illustrate the character of the subject they were carving.

Koruru are frequently found fitted to the gable of a whare whakairo (carved meetinghouse) as a representation of the tribe’s eponymous ancestor.

Material: Parāoa (Whalebone)

Measurements: 102mm x 58mm x 27mm