Collection Search

Complete shell pendant with large suspension hole. Notches along the edges.

Complete kahawai lure. Wooden shank with knobs at head and base. White iridescent shell inlay. Straight bone point with internal barb. Lashings at base and lashings with braided cord at head.

Complete epa. Rectangular shaped piece that has been sawn off at top and at bottom. This epa shows the upper half of a frontal human figure - the head disproportionately large, with paua shell inlay eyes. The head is carved using a rauponga pattern, while the body is carved using a different style where featuring notches (ngau pae). Right arm is lowered at shoulder but bends up at elbow so that three fingered hand rests on pectoral area beneath a small raised spiral. Left arm is lowered and bent at elbow so that three fingered hand rests across stomach This piece is cut short at the top of the hips.

Piece of dentalium shell, broken at each end and hollow in the centre, possibly used as a pendant bead. White with grooves running the length of the shell.

Small ring of worked dentalium shell used as a necklace bead. Three grooves around the sides.

Small ring of worked dentalium shell, used as a necklace bead. Three grooves around the sides, small piece of one side broken off.

Zulu head band of cowrie shells sewn on to cloth

Mostly complete shell pendant. Broken suspension hole at the proximal end. Curved to a point at the distal end.

Complete waka huia. Square in cross-section. Decorated on lid in carved groove and dot motif worked in three sections into complex patterns. The carving patterns differ on both long sides. The base has the groove and dot pattern in swirling pattern that forms two highly stylised faces with (not original) inlay paua shell eyes. The handles are elongated laterally and decorated with an abstract pattern. They are perforated vertically for suspension cord. On one end of the lid there is a centred, wide and flat tongue that has a matching slot. There is a small chip in the corner on this end of the lid. On the other end of the lid, the tongue is off-centre and narrower, with a matching slot. Modern fibre through handle perforations for suspension.

Broken fishhook point, mid and base remaining, tip not present. Serations on external side, two-pronged barb on external side.

White oyster shell pendant with a suspension hole near the hinge end.

Broken putatara. Weather bleached conch shell trumpet, with fragments missing from rear section of lip and at proximal end. There are three perforations apex end of the spire, where a wooden mouthpiece would have been attached. There is a large fragment missing from the body. There is a perforation on the outer lip. Along the outer lip, towards the distal end there is a chip, followed by a crack. There is a partial perforation at the anterior canal.

Broken paua shell ornament. Suspension hole drilled through the off-centre, missing a portion of the shell.

Tortoise shell filagree ornament

Complete kahawai hook. Wooden shank with two knobs at head and large knob at base. White iridescent shell. Curved bone point with internal barb. European-style twisted cord and lashings.

Complete kahawai lure. Curved bone shaft with paua shell inlay. Barbed bone fishhook point lashed to base with muka. Twisted muka cord at head.

Complete taiaha. Human face carved on both sides of the proximal end. Rauru (spiral and notch) pattern carved on protruding tongue. Distal edge of the tongue tapers to a point; sides are flattened. Paua shell inlay is intact in three of four eyes. Cloth padding wrapped around the shaft below the carved faces; narrow strip of black cloth patterned with yellow dots and a larger piece of undecorated brown cloth. Cloth and remnants of bird quills are lashed on using plaited muka fibre. Tufts of white dog hair attached to plaited muka at the base of the shaft. Blade is undecorated and worked smooth, tapering to a slight point at the distal edge.