item details
NameTaiaha (long handled striking weapon)
ProductionUnknown; maker/artist; 1800-1863; Waikato
Classificationedged weapons, taiaha
Materialswood, pāua (abalone shell)
Techniqueswoodcarving
DimensionsOverall: 60mm (width), 1637mm (length), 35mm (depth)
Registration NumberWE000008
Credit lineBequest of Kenneth Athol Webster, 1969
Overview
This extract originally appeared in Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa (Te Papa Press, 2024) on page 154.
This extract was authored by Matiu Baker.
This taiaha was collected from the battlefield at Rangiriri on 20 November 1863 by Colonel Alfred Francis William Wyatt of the 65th ‘Royal Tigers’ regiment. Engraved along its body is the inscription ‘COL. WYATT. 65th REG. RANGIRIRI. 20th NOV. 1863’. In 1937 it was purchased in England by expatriate New Zealand collector Kenneth Athol Webster, and returned to New Zealand as part of his bequest to the National Museum in 1971.