Tauihu (canoe prow)

item details

NameTauihu (canoe prow)

ProductionUnknown; carver; 1800-1850; Wellington

Classificationcanoes

Materialswood, pāua (abalone shell)

Materials SummaryHand carved from a single piece of wood, probably totara, using stone (pounamu, NZ nephrite jade) or steel tools.

Techniqueswoodcarving

DimensionsOverall: 405mm (width), 1185mm (length), 500mm (depth)

Registration NumberWE001202

Credit lineBequest of Kenneth Athol Webster, 1969

Overview

This tauihu waka is a very fine example of the ringa-whiu style of prow piece typically found on waka-taua (war canoes). The term ringa-whiu refers to the protruding arms extending backwards from the foremost anthropomorphic figure of the tauihu.

Characteristic features
This type of tauihu has two prominent, and characteristic features. The first is the projecting figure with peaked forehead, protruding tongue, swept-back arms, and extended legs and feet. (In this example the backward extending arms have broken off, and have been carved over.) The second is the two large carved pītau (perforated spiral carving) or takarangi (giddy) scroll designs separated by the sinuous abstract form of the manaia (a beaked bird-like figure). These represent the separation of the elemental parents Ranginui (Sky-father) and Papatuānuku (Earth-mother) from the Māori creation story.

Acquisition
This tauihu-waka was purchased by New Zealand collector Kenneth Athol Webster in England in 1952, and repatriated to New Zealand as part of the Webster collection in 1958.