Greenstone Whale Tail Carving

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A Maori Greenstone Whale Tail Carving. The Carving is 4cm (40mm or 1 1/2 inches) Tall including base.

Whales, Dolphins and Turtles
The ocean has always been the dominant force for the Maori people who traveled huge distances in their long canoes and lived on the bounty of the tropical waters. They had a great respect for the creatures on the sea and in particular dolphins and whales.

The whale with its great size and obvious intelligence played an important part in the culture of the Maori people. They were often represented as an example of family love with mother and calf always side by side and touching at every opportunity.

Beached whales were treasured as gifts from the gods. They were particularly prized for the bone which after several years of curing was used to carve ornate jewelry and art works, often passed down for many generations.

A dolphin is s symbol of playfulness, harmony and friendship while the turtle is the sign of a navigator.

Greenstone
Greenstone is a term specific to New Zealand to describe Jade. There are two types of Jade, jadeite and nephrite. Nephrite is the only type to occur in New Zealand. Jade comes in a variety of colors, green being the most valued. Jade / Greenstone is a hard and tough stone. It has been illegal to export raw jade / greenstone from New Zealand since 1947 due to it's limited supply.

Pounamu is a Maori word which is used to describe jade / greenstone and also bowenite. The Maori classified pounamu according to colour and named many varieties. Pounamu is broken down into 4 types: kahurangi, kawakawa, inanga and tangiwai.

Kahurangi is the rarest form of pounamu / greenstone. It is a light green greenstone with light streaks which resemble clouds. It is free of any flaws and is very translucent.

Kawakawa has a strong green colour with varying shades throughout. It is named due to the fact that it resembles a leaf from the kawakawa / Lofty pepper tree.

Inanga which means whitebait is a pearl white grey/green coloured stone which is usually translucent.

Tangiwai (Bowenite) is a very translucent, olive-green to bluish-green type of serpentine, found mainly at the entrance to Milford Sound in the South Island. The word tangiwai came from the Maori legend relating to the petrification of the tears of a lamenting woman. Sometimes it is referred to as koko-tangiwai, koko meaning ear pendant, and this signifies its predominant use.

Early Maori discovered Pounamu's ability to retain a hard, sharp edge making it ideal as cutting tools. Maori made adzes (toki) and chisels (whao) from nephrite jade, they fitted the jade to wooden handles and lashed them together using flax cords.

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Category : Carvings

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