This beautiful stylised Koruru hand carved from a fabulous piece of Inanga Pounamu, with Paua eyes, a wonderful taonga for someone who is connected to their whakapapa. This piece is ideal for those seeking a meaningful taonga that represents heritage, guardianship, and personal strength.
Koruru
are architectural features on large whare tupuna or wharenui (meeting houses) that join the two-front facing maihi (barge boards) at the top apex. A koruru's face is also the face of the represented tupuna (ancestor) embodied in the carved constructed form of the whare tupuna. Many whare whakairo are named after ancestors. The building is regarded as an outstretched body. The koruru (gable head) is the face of the ancestor, the maihi (bargeboards) the arms, the kūwaha (door) the mouth, the tāhuhu (ridgepole) the spine, and the heke (rafters) the ribs.
Inanga- Pounamu takes its name from a freshwater fish native to New Zealand. It is pale and often transparent, like the young of the Inanga fish. It is pearly white to grey green in colour, and ranges from translucent to quite opaque. It can change colour over time, developing a light olive tint as it ages and oxidises - Highly prized by the Māori and the desired material for making Mere and Patu.
Paua
Shell – Abalone, our Paua shell is rich and deep in iridescent colours unique to New Zealand. Found all around the rocky shoreline coast but grows best in southern waters. Paua shell has been traditionally used by Maori to illuminate the eyes & features of carvings and artwork. While Paua sits within the abalone family, which is found in other parts of the world, namely, South America, Australia, Western North America, and Japan, our Paua's hidden, bright multi-coloured interior shell is only found in New Zealand.
Hand Carved by Katene Campbell
Size 73mm long x 46mm wide x 10mm thick
This will be the exact piece you will receive in the photos, there may be a slight degree of colour variation based on different computer or device screen resolutions that you are viewing from.
