Maori Treasure Box (Wakahuia)

  • Title
    Maori Treasure Box (Wakahuia)   circa 19th   - early 20th  century
  • Artist
    Unknown
  • Location
    New Zealand
  • Size
    42cm (L) x 11cm (W) x 8cm (H)
  • Price
    PRICE ON REQUEST

The treasure boxes of the Māori people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) are significant sculptures, serving both practical and spiritual purposes. These boxes held personal ornaments such as pendants or feathers, which were believed to absorb the supernatural essence of their wearer through contact. When not being worn, the ornaments were stored in the box, which was suspended from the rafters of the home for safekeeping. Designed to be viewed from below, the undersides of these boxes are intricately carved, often featuring human figures—likely ancestors—gazing downward. The surface is adorned with the intricate curvilinear patterns that are a hallmark of Māori wood carving.

A very similar example is in the Met Museum, New York USA , which is dated 1850s  ( Object Number: 1979.206.1434a, b )

Provenance

Dec 2, 1983, Sotheby’s – Important Tribal Art

Seymour and Alyce Lazar, Palm Springs

Feb 1, 2023, Lempertz – Arts of Africa, the Pacific & the Americas

Ned and Mina Smith Collection, California

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The treasure boxes of the Māori people of Aotearoa (New Zealand) are significant sculptures, serving both practical and spiritual purposes. These boxes held personal ornaments such as pendants or feathers, which were believed to absorb the supernatural essence of their wearer through contact. When not being worn, the ornaments were stored in the box, which was suspended from the rafters of the home for safekeeping. Designed to be viewed from below, the undersides of these boxes are intricately carved, often featuring human figures—likely ancestors—gazing downward. The surface is adorned with the intricate curvilinear patterns that are a hallmark of Māori wood carving.

A very similar example is in the Met Museum, New York USA , which is dated 1850s  ( Object Number: 1979.206.1434a, b )

Provenance

Dec 2, 1983, Sotheby’s – Important Tribal Art

Seymour and Alyce Lazar, Palm Springs

Feb 1, 2023, Lempertz – Arts of Africa, the Pacific & the Americas

Ned and Mina Smith Collection, California

A  treasure box of the Māori people of Aotearoa (New Zealand)