 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
||||
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
|
||||
 |
|
||||
| A superb HEI TIKI or human-form chest pendant worn in pre-contact times by only the highest ranking nobles. The triangular head is set low on the shoulders and tilted to the right of the figure. The eyes are deeply cut and inlayed with pearl-shell discs cut out to show a central jade stud. The mouth is open in the classical Maori grimace of defiance; the pointed tongue juts out between a pair of fangs. The body is powerfully portrayed with a large prominent chest, large shoulders with short bent arms, the stylized hands resting on the thighs. The legs are bowed in the classical manner with the in-turned feet joining at the bottom center of the figure. The sex is not defined. Three suspension holes are drilled through a ridge situated at the top of the head. The back of the figure is smooth with a horizontal depression cutting across at the level of the abdomen. There is a large conical hole drilled at the top for the main suspension hole. The vegetable fiber necklace is attached to the main hole and still bears its decorated bone toggle. The present example is previously un-recorded and is one of the finest of its type known.
|
 |
Wanganui River Area (?), Maori People, North Island, New Zealand, Polynesia. Provenance: Ref.: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|