Pendant
P2318
From: New Zealand | South Island, New Zealand | Otago Region | Whareakeake
Curatorial Section: Oceanian
| Native Name | Hei Tiki |
| Object Number | P2318 |
| Current Location | Collections Storage |
| Culture | Maori |
| Provenience | New Zealand | South Island, New Zealand | Otago Region | Whareakeake |
| Period | Te Huringa I Period |
| Date Made | 1800 - 1900 CE |
| Section | Oceanian |
| Materials | Greenstone | Abalone | Bone | New Zealand Flax |
| Description | A hei tiki (human form pendant) made of pounamu (greenstone). The human figure has an oversized head tilted to one side, arms akimbo, legs flexed, and feet together. Pāua (abalone) shell eyes. A muka (processed New Zealand flax) suspension cord, bone toggle. Hei tiki are carved neck pendants of uncertain origin. Some believe that they represent Tiki, the first man; others believe that the pendants could represent Hineteiwaiwa, the ancestral goddess of fertility. Hei tiki are often heirlooms of prestige. Most were made of greenstone, though some were made of whale bone. Their value derives from the hours of labor required to carve the hard material and from association with the ancestors through whose hands the carvings have passed, from generation to generation. |
| Height | 7.7 cm |
| Length | 25.7 cm |
| Width | 3.6 cm |
| Credit Line | Purchased from W. O. Oldman; Subscription of Herbert L. Clark in memory of Edward W. Clark, 1911 |
| Other Number | 18745 - Dealer's Number |
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