Overview
The National Gallery of Australia in Canberra houses a Māori cloak like no other in the world - a triple huaki. Most huaki have two borders of tāniko (geometric patterning), but this one has three.
Cloak-making at its best
The huaki is a form of kaitaka (fine flax cloak with tāniko border). This example demonstrates cloak-making at its best, both in its finely woven foundation and the three tāniko borders at the hem.
The borders are laid one over the other, giving the appearance of one cloak being worn over another. Huaki means 'to open'. The cloak would have taken an immense amount of time and skill to make. A large kaitaka with one border can take over 2 years to complete. This cloak would have taken much longer. It is the only cloak of its kind known to exist today.Tāniko borders
The patterns of the tāniko borders are outstanding in their artistry. They are based on the triangle shape, as most tāniko designs are, with a myriad of small variations in colour and form.
The borders contain subtle patterns in the dark areas, created by the 'black-on-black‘ technique, which is no longer practised today. This technique is the subject of research by Margery Blackman and Patricia Wallace. In creating the tāniko borders, the weaver would have used the same vertical threads as in the cloak’s main body. She would have had to plan all the patterns before she began weaving, holding every detail in her mind as she wove.Woven after European settlement?
The red and green wool in the huaki suggest that it was been made after European settlement in Aotearoa New Zealand. But the wool looks like it may have been sewn over the original foundation. Perhaps the cloak was woven earlier and the wool was added later?
History of the triple huaki
For many decades, this triple huaki was in the collection of the late James T Hooper (1897-1971), a leading British collector. Hooper's collection was once regarded as the finest private collection of Polynesian art in the world.
The National Gallery of Australia acquired the cloak in 2007.