Korowai (cloak)

This korowai was collected by Kenneth Webster, an artefacts and antiquities dealer and collector of Māori and Pacific material, in the 1940 and 1950s. Webster was a New Zealander based in London who was zealously devoted to acquiring taonga from private dealers and museums overseas. His efforts culminated in the return of nearly a thousand items, gifted to the Dominion Museum on his death in 1967. The collection was formerly acquired in 1971.

Copious decorative elements provide layers of textural depth and interest to the korowai, from the fine filaments of black-dyed hukahuka (rolled threads) to the contrasting cylindrical flax tags called pōkinikini, which would quiver with every movement of the wearer, or the slightest breeze, bringing the cloak to life. The delicately thin hukahuka and pōkinikini contrast with the distinctive and regular undulating lines of the kaupapa underneath. Coloured wool, in the pāheke form of rolling loops, spirals and twists, has been incorporated into the sides and along the lower section. Tufts of wool in red, blue and green at each edge also include small pieces of woven fabric. Ngore of dark red wool are dispersed all over the korowai. This is an eye-catching and expedient use of versatile materials.


Construction
The kaupapa (foundation) of the korowai is muka (New Zealand flax fibre), in whatu aho rua (two-pair weft twining) technique. The whenu (warp threads) measure eight per centimetre, with 12 mm spacing between each aho weft row. The thrum commencement at the lower edge has a row of whatu aho pātahi (single pair weft twining), to which is attached a fringe of hukahuka, pōkinikini and red wool. There are three sets of shaping rows, all in simple elliptical inserts: two rows 120 mm from the bottom; fifteen rows 530 mm from the bottom; and eleven rows 180 mm from the top of the kākahu. The top of the korowai has a fringe of black dyed hukahuka and pōkinikini with a whenu spiral finish. The top corners have 180 mm lengths of muka fringing.

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