Exquisite Maori Bone Carving

... ... the very essence

Hold New Zealand's breath-taking beauty in your hands.

A Maori bone carving. Genuine. Exclusive.

The forms and spirit of the land captured by the country's finest artists.

New Zealand needs to be shared. The grandeur, the scale, the intricate forms of the fern frond. All this, captured in the finest jade (greenstone), pearl and bone carvings from highly skilled and renowned local Māori artists (please note that the correct spelling is Māori but for "internet purposes" we need to use "Maori"...).

Maori Bone Carving

Maori bone carvings and artwork have a very special feel about them, unlike anything else you will ever experience. Their milky white appearance and soft flowing lines are just the start. They are soft and warm to the touch yet the finish is like polished glass, they seem to blend with your body and become a part of you, especially when worn as a pendent against your skin.

Every experience increases in value if it's shared with friends.

Every carving has a very special meaning or story behind its design. And in that meaning is the importance of sharing. Passing on the oral traditions of the Maori and their respect for, and reverence of, nature.

The pre-European Maori had no written language. So tribal history and the stories of the gods were kept using many forms of fine arts and crafts. Pendants, jewelry and various tools such as needles, spear tips and fish hooks fashioned through bone carving developed into a fine art form. Great importance being placed on every piece, many of which took years to make using stone tools.

These Maori arts and crafts ranged from basket and cloth weaving to complex wood, jade, shell and bone carving containing the essential elements necessary to preserve the tribal histories.

What happened then? These artifacts containing the tribal stories and history were handed down through generations of tribal elders and became sacred objects or treasures, "Taonga", telling the history of a tribe and taking on the spirits of past great leaders and warriors who had worn them.

Over a period of time, Maori bone carvings absorb oils from your skin and change colour from their original milky-white to a very light honey-gold. The Maori believe this to be the carving taking on some of your spirituality or essence and thus truly becoming a part of the wearer. It is held that a Maori bone carving which is worn with respect or given and received with love, takes on part of the spirit of those who wear or handle it.

And, in this way, it becomes a spiritual link between people. And peoples. Spanning time and distance. A Maori bone carving that has been worn by family or tribal members over many generations contains the spirit of all of those people and is truly a great and powerful treasure.

The Maori have a great respect for nature and have many legends about the creation of the earth and all its inhabitants. Many of these legends revolve around the spirits or gods who created or protect each part of their world. The mountains, the forests, the lakes and the creatures of the sea.

Quintessential New Zealand in your hands

... worthy of the greatest respect.

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