Exquisite Maori Bone Carving

... Capture The Essence

Discover the Beauty... Exclusive Genuine Art, a Maori Bone Carving.

Explore the Meaning... Connecting Spirit, People and Land.

Traditional Maori Designs... Captured by New Zealand's finest artists.

Beautiful Carvings... Renowned, highly skilled local artists capture New Zealand's famous fern frond spiral an intricate form with grandeur. Admire, enjoy and share these beautiful designs hand carved in the finest jade(greenstone), pearl and bone carvings.

Delight your Senses... Feast your eyes admiring the appearance of a milky white Maori Bone Carving. Feel the soft flowing lines with a finish like polished glass but warm to the touch and skin as it seems to glide with you.

Wearable Art... Intrinsic value enjoyed when shared with friends.

Each Maori Bone Carving and Design Expresses
a Special Meaning or Story...

The most valuable meaning... The Importance of Sharing. In lieu of a written language, the pre-European Maori focused on both oral traditions and creative art forms adapted from their natural environment.

Tribal history and the stories of the gods were passed on through many forms of fine arts and crafts. One of those fine arts developed was carving bone into pendants fashioned after various tools they used everyday, such as needles, spear tips and fish hooks that were then worn as jewelry. Each pendant was made with stone tools, many of which took years to carve... the significant amount of time spent carving each piece placed an increased value and importance to them.

Other forms of arts and crafts created with nature's essential elements by the Maori's to preserve their tribal history included; basket and cloth weaving to complex wood, jade, shell and Maori bone carving.

Traditionally a Koru is given to another to show connection or kinship, or the linking of one generation to another.

A Koru design intertwined with other forms... such as Twists or Circles illustrate a different significant story. For example a single twist represents the joining of two people together for eternity, while twists with a crisscross depicts the many paths of love and life.

Enclosing the Koru element within a circle signifies a new beginning within the circle of life or linking love with a new life

This closed circle translation means that there is no beginning and no end. A good example of identifying that relationship with an element is the artist with his relationship to his craft... a circle uniting his spirit with head, hand and heart to create.

Spanning time and distance... A Maori Bone Carving worn for generations shares the spirit of all the family or members who wore it, becoming the spiritual link transcending time. That spiritual energy is truly a great and powerful treasure.

To the Maori's, a Maori Bone Carving is held in high regard, worn with respect, given and received with love, and embraces the spirit of those who give, receive or wear it.

With a great respect for natures surroundings, the Maori legends evolve around stories about the spirits and gods relating to the mountains, forests, lakes and creatures of the sea. Many of these stories are about the creation of earth and its inhabitants and protecting each part of nature in the world.

Timeless, Quintessential New Zealand. A Maori tradition to be shared, enjoyed and loved...

Worthy of Honor, Worthy of Respect.

Basic Maori Bone Carving
Design Elements and Their Meanings

By combining elements of mythology within a Maori Bone Carving the interaction of that design tells a story.

Each element has its own specific meaning. The way the elements are combined or portrayed contributes to each carvings special character and story. Learn more about each elements detail by clicking on the link directing you to its section:

• Koru (Spiral) - see above
• Twist
• Hei-Matau (Fishhook)
• Manaia
• Tiki
• Whales, Dolphins and Turtles
• Featured Artists

The joining together of two people for eternity is defined by the single twist. Although they may move experience seperate journeys... they stay connected, sharing and blending their lives to become one. The symbolism represents the strength of a bond in friendship or relationship, the loyalty and love that will last forever.

The joining of two peoples or cultures instead of individuals has similar meaning for both the double and triple twists. Intertwining other elements with the Twists such as the Koru and Matau within Maori bone carvings tell a unique powerful story.

Hei-Matau symbolizes power and authority, which by the Maori's are held in great reverence. Travelers also wear this element to provide good luck and safety while traveling over water.

With subtle differences between each of the tribes, the Manaia element is blended into many Maori bone carving designs, because of its power as a guardian against evil and its ability to hold great spiritual energy.

The Manaia is often characterized by the three fingers of life... birth, life and death. It may also be shown with the fourth finger depicting the afterlife, representing and completing the circle of life.

Legends illustrate the Tiki as the first man of the world arriving from the stars. Other stories illustrate him with webbed feet suggesting a strong link to the creatures of the sea.

The Tiki is respected as a teacher of all things. Those who wear the symbol are seen to possess clarity of thought, loyalty, great inner knowledge and strength of character.

The Tiki is also celebrated as a fertility symbol and a signal of a good luck charm when worn.

Maori's have a great appreciation for the creatures of the sea, in particular for the dolphins and whales.

Playing an important part in the culture of the Maori people is the whale because of its great size and obvious intelligence. Often exhibited as an example of family love a Maori bone carving illustrating mother and calf always side by side and touching at every opportunity.

Treasured as gifts by the gods... Beached whales. They were cherished especially for the bone which after several years of curing was utilized to carve ornate jewelry and art works passed down from generation to generation.

A dolphin epitomizes playfulness, harmony and friendship, while the turtle embodies a navigator.

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