Āhua Gallery

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

Tokotoko are used when speaking on the marae – by esteemed orators – to indicate the direction of a speaker’s kōrero (speech). They often have the whakapapa (genealogy) of the orator carved into them and these can also be referenced by the orator during his address.

Material: Rātā

Measurements: 1050mm x 45mm x 45mm

Autui 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. Autui are still commonly worn as pendants and earrings and as with most Māori personal adornments, are often passed down generationally.

Material: Koiwi (Beef Bone)

Measurements: 125mm x 10mm x 4mm

Autui 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. Autui are still commonly worn as pendants and earrings and as with most Māori personal adornments, are often passed down generationally.

Material: Koiwi (Beef Bone)

Measurements: 106mm x 9mm

Material: Ōnewa (NZ Greywacke) & Koiwi (Beef Bone)

Measurements: 190mm x 35mm x 30mm

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

Poi piu are simple poi made from the hardened and curled piupiu strands of flax. Poi piu was used as percussion instruments played to the beat of Māori chanting.

Material: Harakeke & Muka

Measurements: 650mm Long

The Waka Pungarehu (Ash Urn) has two carved tekoteko (statues) positioned at the ends of the waka pungarehu which are carved in the traditional style of whakapakoko, resembling preserved corpses. The surface is intricately adorned with the raperape design, symbolizing the continuous cycle of life and the evolution of death. The pakati and haehae techniques are skillfully carved to enhance the entire waka pungarehu, with the distinctive pakati design known as niho kuri (dog’s teeth) adding a unique touch. The pakati designs feature iroiro (maggots) motifs, symbolizing the natural process of decomposition when a human body returns to the earth.

Material: Tōtara

Measurements: 450mm x 110mm x 90mm

Kete Kai is a food gathering basket that is typical used to house food from the ocean or the land. Kete kai was used for every type of food that was gathered. You were not allowed to mix land food kete with the ocean food kete as it was tapu. The pattern on this kete kai is taki tahi and the holes are called puareare.

Material: Harakeke

Measurements: 360mm x 200mm

Kete Kai is a food gathering basket that is typical used to house food from the ocean or the land. Kete kai was used for every type of food that was gathered. You were not allowed to mix land food kete with the ocean food kete as it was tapu. The pattern on this kete kai is taki tahi and the holes are called puareare.

Material: Harakeke

Measurements: 340mm x 490mm

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

In Māori whakapapa (genealogy), all Māori flutes come to us from Hine Raukatauri, the daughter of Tānemahuta, the atua (spiritual entity) of the forest and birds. Hine Raukatauri is best known as the atua of flute music. She loved her flute so much that she chose to live inside it. She is now personified as the case moth that hangs from branches of trees in a long slender cocoon. This case moth cocoon is where the pūtōrino gets its shape from.

Material: Mataī (NZ Native)

Measurements: 400mm x 70mm x 50mm