This is a wonderful handcrafted half hidden Koruru from a lovely piece of Marsden Flower Pounamu. The colour and patterns in this stone are fantastic and with face emerging from inside the Pounamu, makes this a truly unique taonga.
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.
Marsden Putiputi (Flower)
Pounamu from the Marsden, West Coast area. The centre of this stone is a highly translucent, light-ish green shade, free from dark spots and other flaws. One of the rarest varieties, held in high esteem by the Māori. The most prized Greenstone in New Zealand is Flower Jade, Greenstone with pale green or ochre clouds of colour. This distinctive patterning and colouring come from the outside rim or 'rind' of the greenstone boulders or stones where the surface has oxidised.
Hand Carved by Katene Campbell
Size: 48mm dia x 8mm 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.
