Korowai (cloak)

Although described by the collector Kenneth Webster as a korowai, there are now only traces of black-dyed hukahuka (tassels) on the cloak. It appears as if there were once two fine vertical lines of hukahuka close to the side edges of the kākahu. Eight wool crosses in muted tones of red, purple and blue are embroidered as pāheke across the muka surface. Installation artist Maureen Lander suggests that the crosses were an early missionary influence: ‘Perhaps they were worked onto an existing cloak to convert it into a suitable garment for “Sunday best” to wear to church?’ Certainly this kākahu has an austerity that contrasts with the colourful exuberance of other transitional period garments.


History
One of the labels attached to the cloak has a William Oldman stamp, suggesting that the two collectors Oldman and Webster may have collaborated when negotiating for it. Webster had a close relationship with the Oldman family, and one of his greatest achievements was securing the Oldman collection, regarded as one of the world’s finest, for the museum. Another old label attached to the cloak reads: ‘Korowai-cloak of a Māori woman’.


Construction
The kaupapa (foundation) is muka (New Zealand flax fibre), weft-twined in whatu aho rua (two-pair weft twining) technique. There are five whenu (warp threads) per centimetre, with 5 mm spacing between each aho (weft row). The aho poka (shaping rows) are fifteen rows, 380 mm from the top. The korowai has a selvedge commencement. Attached to the bottom edge are two rows of blue and white wool in blocks. Short 50 mm lines of pāheke (rolling loops, spirals, or twists) are woven along the bottom, one set at halfway and another 30 mm from the top of the cloak, although most have deteriorated. There are remnants of hukahuka (rolled thread) attachments in rows along both sides of the kākahu and a few at the top. The neck edge has a warp spiral finish with 100 mm of fringing at the corners.

This text is based on an excerpt from Whatu Kakahu|Maori Cloaks (second edition), edited by Awhina Tamarapa, © Te Papa Press 2019.