Kauri Wood Box: Maori Carving
This is a hand carved Maori box that was given to me by my Great Grandma about 35 years ago. I was only young and she sat me on her knee and presented this box, i remember her making a very big deal about giving this to me and instructing me how to clean and look after it, it obviously meant alot to her and she was giving it to me and i hope some day to pass it on in the same way to someone deserving.
The box lid has an intricate face carved into it. The eyes are made from abalone shells and the most stiking feature is the smooth tongue, i have been told that Kauri wood is very soft and difficult to carve, making such a smooth finish could only be done by the most gifted carvers and this box would have been a real tonga, meaning treasure.
The box is carved out of Kauri wood. Kauri trees are among the most ancient trees in the word and can be over 2,000 years old and reaching a height of over 50 metres and have become very rare due to the amazing qualities of the wood.
The box has the words Kauri and Kiri Ani stained into the underside of the box lid and bottom of the box, it is believed the carvers name was Kiri Ani which is a womans name, women carvers were very rare.
There was a story attatched to this box, as a child i found the story amazing but as much as im dubious i still like it; My Great Grandma and Grandad would regularly visit Nez Zealand and had a love for the country, they had built up a friendship with the Maori community but im sorry to say i do not know which community.
My Great Grandfather had become friends with the tribal leader and there was a custom for the Maori to present a piece of boars meat to outsiders as a symbol that they were welcome, if you were presented with half a boar then you were seen as equal but on this occasion the Maori leader presented my Great Grandfather with the entire boar. My Great Grandfather then took out his knife and cut into the boar, he cut it into two and presented half a boar back to the tribal leader. The tribal leader was so impressed that he then presented this box to my Great Grandfather as it was his most prized possession.
Now ok as a child it is an amazing story, as an adult i do wonder about the efforts required to cut a boar in half, things could go horribly wrong and you would be knelt akle deep in all manner of intestinal spillage while a village watches on in horror at your antics and you just dont get asked back, weve all met these people.
Oireet!
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Oh wow, this is the box you commented on in my post about the Kauri. Looks great. I cannot find any reference to that name here in NZ. IF you give me an area your great grandparents went to it may help. Was it Rotorua by chance? Anyway great post.
I will ask my dad tomorrow if he remembers where they used to visit, im sure ive been told but it was so long ago. It would be very cool to find the origin of the box, its the item i treasure the most, the smell is amazing, can only imagine if a real kauri tree smells the same. You see why i was excited when i saw your visit to the kauri trees :)
Yes, they do smell great and yep, can see why :)