A fabulous Toki with a Paua eyelet handcrafted from a gorgeous piece of blue Tangiwai Pounamu, highly translucent under torch light. This incredible glowing Toki is a very special taonga.
Toki/Adze
– The Toki had much meaning for the Māori, fashioned from stone or greenstone it was an essential tool for survival and day to day life for the Māori. That is the reason Māori attribute the spiritual meaning of strength and power to the Toki. This symbol represents Mana, determination, control, strength, focus and honour.
Tangiwai
is the most ancient form of pounamu. It is bowenite rock, which is different in composition to the more common nephrite. A translucent to transparent olive green to bluish-green variety of serpentine, most Tangiwai is sourced from two isolated areas at Piopiotahi (Milford Sound), Poison Bay and Anita Bay and deposits found in Nelson. Tangiwai takes its name from the tears that come from great sorrow. Tangi means "to cry" and Wai means "water", or "tears". Koko-Tangiwai, the longer name for this stone, refers to a deep sorrow that is never completely healed. There are many sad stories that tell of Tangiwai pounamu's origins.
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 Aaron Tarbeck
Size 71mm long x 34mm wide x 6mm 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.
