Carved Mirror Frame

Text originally created for Tūrangawaewae: Art and New Zealand exhibition at Te Papa, March 2018.

A mirror frame, carved by a master.

For generations, whakairo [carving] and other art forms have provided a means of representing and remembering tīpuna [ancestors].

Tene Waitere modelled this frame on the windows and lintels in wharenui [carved meeting houses]. He learned to carve on the shores of Lake Rotoiti under the guidance of Wero Taroi, a master carver from Ngāti Tarāwhai. Ngāti Tarāwhai, of the Rotorua area, were instrumental in the survival of whakairo, and known for their distinctive style.

He tāpare mira kua whakairohia e tētahi mātanga.

Nō mai anō e whakakanohi ana ngā whakairo me ētahi atu āhuatanga toi i ngā tīpuna.

I whai a Tene Waitere i te āhua o ngā matapihi me ngā pare o te wharenui nōna e hanga ana i tēnei tāpare. I ako ia i raro i te maru o Wero Taroi he tohunga whakairo nō Ngāti Tarāwhai kei te tahatai o Rotoiti. Ko Ngāti Tarāwhai tētahi iwi i pūmau ki ngā mahi whakairo, ā, e mōhiotia ana tā rātou tāera.

---

Tene Waitere was among several prominent Māori carvers in the 1900s who made souvenirs for the emerging tourist market, alongside commissions from Māori and Pākehā (European New Zealanders).

This frame is modelled on the carved windows and pare (lintels) in wharenui (meeting houses). Waitere took it to the 1906 International Exhibition in Christchurch, where he was part of a performance group. The Dominion Museum (Te Papa’s first forerunner) later bought the frame.

Ko Tene Waitere tētahi o ngā ringarehe i ngā tau 1900 i whakairo taonga hei hoko atu ki ngā tūruhi, otirā, ki te Pākehā me te Māori. E whai ana tēnei taitapa i te tauira i ngā pare o te wharepuni. I te tau 1906, i whakaatuhia tēnei taitapa ki te Whakaaturanga o te Ao Whānui i tu ki Ōtautahi. I reira hoki te tira whakaari a Waitere. Nō muri mai, i hokona tēnei taitapa e te Dominion Museum.