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A Superb Maori Smoking Pipe Attributed to the Maori Master Carver Patoromu Tamatea Circa 1850 died 1890


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Collection No. Maori Pipe
Size 10cm x 9.57cm
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A Superb Maori Smoking Pipe Attributed to the Maori Master Carver Patoromu Tamatea Circa 1850 to 1890

This beautifully carved Maori Smoking Pipe is a great sculpture, carved in the form of an ancestor figure which is similar the the Maori ” acrobat figures ” sometimes found on the finials of 19th Paddles where the figures are depicted in impossible human positions;  this pipe has the shoulders and arms evolving out of the head with the hands on the mouth, the legs positioned below but there is no torso or body.  It is a playful carving but also a constant reminder of the ancestors made visible on daily use objects.

Patoromu Tamatea Of Ngati Tamateatutahi, a sub tribe of Ngati Pikiao. He was a distinguished carver and built several canoes at Kopuatepa at Rotoiti. He worked at cultivations at Onepoto, Manututu, and Ngakokako, where he and others built a canoe called Te Ahikaka. Work ceased at Ngakokako in 1864 when the Tairawhiti army arrived and most of the people returned to Rotoiti.

Patoromu was involved in settling a dispute over pigs at Wairere at Tokerau on the north shore of Lake Rotoiti.

Many of Patoromu Tamatea carved figures, weapons, lidded bowls, boxes, walking sticks, and tobacco pipes are now in Auckland Museum and the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa. (Information from Roger Neich, Auckland Institute and Museum)

This is one of my favorite artworks.

Provenance: Old Collection Australia. The Todd Barlin Collection of Maori & Polynesian Art 

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