Pou tokomanawa (carved centre post)

This is a superbly carved female pou-tokomanawa (center pillar), displaying good composition and proportion. Her hands, each showing three well articulated fingers with down turned thumb, rest across her body. Her hair is coifed in an elaborate topknot, and she is painted in a deep reddish brown colour. Her well-shaped oval face has iridescent pāua shell inlay eyes, and she is tattooed on the chin in the traditional moko kauae (chip tattoo), and also on the forehead above the eyes. The tattooing above the eyes is referred to as tuhi mareikura and usually indicates a woman of high rank, and is particularly, but not exclusively, associated with women of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe of the Hawkes Bay region.

Origin
This pou-tokomanawa is registered as being associated with or collected in the Waikato. However, it has been stylistically attributed to the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe.

Pou-tokomanawa
A pou-tokomanawa is the first of three upright posts that support the tāhuhu (ridge pole) of a large whare tupuna (ancestral house) or whare runanga (tribal council house), providing structural stability and supporting the roof. Pou-tokomanawa usually have a carved representation of a significant tupuna (ancestor) of the tribe at their base, facing the entrance to the house. Most pou-tokomanawa in museum collections today appear as free-standing carved figures because they have been sawn-off from the main pole by collectors.