Māori, New Zealand
Circa 1830
Iron axe head, wood handle, pāua shell inlay
Length: 55 1/2 in. (141 cm)
Provenance: Massachusetts trade
The toki kakauroa is a long-handled Māori axe form that emerged following European contact, combining an iron or steel axe head with a traditionally made wooden handle worked in the Māori carving tradition. The introduction of metal tools and trade goods in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was integrated into Māori material culture, producing hybrid objects that retain indigenous formal and decorative vocabulary while incorporating new materials. This example dates to circa 1830 and entered the market through the Massachusetts trade.
The handle is long and slender, tapering toward the base and fitted with a carved mid-shaft junction decorated with pāua shell inlay, the iridescent shell used across Māori carving as a material of prestige and visual significance. The iron axe head is set at the top, its form consistent with trade axe heads circulating in New Zealand in the early nineteenth century. The wood has developed a warm reddish-brown patina through age and handling.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Māori, New Zealand
Circa 1830
Iron axe head, wood handle, pāua shell inlay
Length: 55 1/2 in. (141 cm)
Provenance: Massachusetts trade
The toki kakauroa is a long-handled Māori axe form that emerged following European contact, combining an iron or steel axe head with a traditionally made wooden handle worked in the Māori carving tradition. The introduction of metal tools and trade goods in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was integrated into Māori material culture, producing hybrid objects that retain indigenous formal and decorative vocabulary while incorporating new materials. This example dates to circa 1830 and entered the market through the Massachusetts trade.
The handle is long and slender, tapering toward the base and fitted with a carved mid-shaft junction decorated with pāua shell inlay, the iridescent shell used across Māori carving as a material of prestige and visual significance. The iron axe head is set at the top, its form consistent with trade axe heads circulating in New Zealand in the early nineteenth century. The wood has developed a warm reddish-brown patina through age and handling.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
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