Moko Pounamu Octopus Genuine Whale Bone Carving - Te Wheke

This is an stunning Octopus is hand carved from Whale Bone with goat horn and 18ct Gold eyes and is beautifully carved with detail on both sides. The mastery of this carver must be seen to be believed, stunning.

Octopus is a highly intelligent soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda. The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and Nautiloids. In Maori culture Te Wheke-o-Muturangi was a giant octopus belonging to Muturangi, a tohunga (ritual expert) from Hawaiki. The creature kept stealing bait and ruining fishing lines for Kupe and his people. Angered by the destruction, Kupe built his double-hulled waka (canoe), Matawhaorua (or Matahorua), and set sail in pursuit of the beast across the Pacific alongside his wife Kuramarotini and crew.

Whale Bone has always been a special medium for Māori artists, Whales are considered a taonga species, and represent abundance, richness and were regarded as chiefly animals. Some tribes see whales as the descendants of Tangaroa, the god of the ocean and strandings are seen as gifts from Tangaroa and carving them is a way of honouring that gift. Whales possess a tapu (sacred) significance to Māori as both supernatural beings and as harbingers of personal change and spiritual growth.

Genuine Whale bone - Ethically sourced from Kapiti Island.

Carved by Owen Mapp CNZM

Size 122mm long x 55mm wide x 19mm 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.