New Zealand wood carvings

[selectedgrub]

More comes....

[Maets]

Looking forward to following this.

[jonb]

Wow, I just love that.
Is it traditional to use an old tree still in the ground like that, or is it a modern development from? Either way I love it. Any info you have about it I would love to know.

[Hurricane Annie]

Wow, I just love that.
Is it traditional to use an old tree still in the ground like that, or is it a modern development from? Either way I love it. Any info you have about it I would love to know.

  It is a modern take on a traditional art. But then a culture that evolves is still a live culture.

[Steampunk Away]

Is that last face Tū, the Māori god of war?

[selectedgrub]

Impressed. No he is represented below this in 8 land posts. (I'll get to those later)
This was carved from live Tōtara trees, a tree native to NZ.
The carving represents those who died during the Battle of Gate Pā at Pukehinahina 29 April 1864.
Included are unknown warriors whose names have been lost over the past 150 years.
Each branch is carved to face toward a landmark mountain.

[selectedgrub]

[selectedgrub]

This carving, General Cameron.
He led the English soldiers in the Battle of Gate Pā

[selectedgrub]

[selectedgrub]

This went down like a lead zeppelin.

[Hurricane Annie]

Maybe you should have started in with some  items of a more dignified and culturally  authentic nature such as these  carved punga/ ponga  classics.


Ye Olde Maori Chainsaw Punga Carving

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjesvSjvplo

before leading into this





close up

[Hurricane Annie]

Oldest known Maori Carving .: known as the Kaitaia Lintel.




!950's  article giving a rather romantic description and explanation of  the carving
http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao14TeA/c23.html

[jonb]

This went down like a lead zeppelin.

No I loved the images in fact I have been thinking about them a lot, so much so I still have not formulated a reply. In my case the balloon has not gone down but is whizzing around my head.
So where to start
Tattoo company tee shirt, what a great name. So is the centre post of the entrance such an important feature that the door has to be offset, are the designs on the knees of the general Maori in origin because that is a Celtic symbol, so is it there as a nod to his background or has it another meaning? Pink wood. Did the Maori have a set colour scheme or just a limitation of pigments. The figure at the top of the meeting house is carved in a more naturalistic way than the rest of the carvings. No I am still not sure what I want to say/ask, just enjoying thinking about the images too much. 

[Hurricane Annie]

This went down like a lead zeppelin.

No I loved the images in fact I have been thinking about them a lot, so much so I still have not formulated a reply. In my case the balloon has not gone down but is whizzing around my head.
So where to start
Tattoo company tee shirt, what a great name. So is the centre post of the entrance such an important feature that the door has to be offset, are the designs on the knees of the general Maori in origin because that is a Celtic symbol, so is it there as a nod to his background or has it another meaning? Pink wood. Did the Maori have a set colour scheme or just a limitation of pigments. The figure at the top of the meeting house is carved in a more naturalistic way than the rest of the carvings. No I am still not sure what I want to say/ask, just enjoying thinking about the images too much. 

To  answer some of your queries :[ Mr Grub may be able to solve other mysteries for you]

Pigments were limited to red , black and cream and  remain the traditional Maori colour scheme.



The  circles or spirals that are the basis of most Maori design are  Koru or punga/ponga fronds

  Different parts of the ponga can be used for  building huts, decoration, containers,  food etc

There is so much one takes for granted about ones own environment.  Thank you for  helping remind me how beautiful  "our back yard" is  in New Zealand.

[J. Wilhelm]

This went down like a lead zeppelin.

Me think you ignored the effect of the American colonists in the forum.  The 26th was our Thanksgiving Eve.  We were all fighting in the supermarket to get that last fat turkey 

These photos are great.  You are cordially invited to post and participate at the Longhouse:

http://brassgoggles.org/forum/index.php/topic,43181.0.html

[selectedgrub]

It may not really apply to me sir.

So is the centre post of the entrance such an important feature that the door has to be offset, are the designs on the knees of the general Maori in origin because that is a Celtic symbol, so is it there as a nod to his background or has it another meaning?......
The figure at the top of the meeting house is carved in a more naturalistic way than the rest of the carvings. No I am still not sure what I want to say/ask, just enjoying thinking about the images too much. 

He was British so I'd say so.
Cameron and his troops were sent to New Zealand from England.
North Island Maori were becoming increasingly reluctant to sell land and the rise of the King Movement in the Waikato was considered to be a challenge to the British sovereignty.
Some soldiers, sympathisers of the Maori deflected and lived/fought with them.

The Gable carving piece on a meeting house represents an ancestor.



The bargeboards, the arms usually ending in finger type carvings.

[frances]

This is interesting.  I know nothing about maori carvings.

(Oh, my computer went down for 24 hours and and I been/am rather ill.  hence no response.)  But I love that photograph of the New Zealand jungle.  Wish I was there rather than this cold, damp urban area I live in.

[Hurricane Annie]

This is interesting.  I know nothing about maori carvings.

(Oh, my computer went down for 24 hours and and I been/am rather ill.  hence no response.)  But I love that photograph of the New Zealand jungle.  Wish I was there rather than this cold, damp urban area I live in.

Did you both have a virus? I am glad you are both feeling better.

Our jungles are sadly referred to as rain forests for a reason. New Zealanders would all like to live in the bush - but alas most of us live in cold damp urban areas.

New Zealand used to be completely covered in such rain forest. There were giant birds of land and sky.  Fish swam in the rivers, streams and close to shore.

Then people came.

What is left is beautiful though.

[jonb]

Just to say I am really enjoying this thread, I love the carvings, and also to see the landscapes, in London often a NZ palm is planted in a garden to make it look a bit exotic, after seeing these sad and lonely specimens it is wonderful to see them in their natural environment. Could not agree with the statement of missing the beauty that is around us. We seem programmed to notice difference, and if something is there everyday somehow we stop looking at it.
Personally the more pictures and information you can post the happier I will be.

[selectedgrub]

Just to say I am really enjoying this thread

Going by the thread hits I think you're the only one.

Here is a modern meeting house.
The interior blows me away. Haven't got to those pictures yet.
Only took them this weekend.

[Maets]

As I am posting this, there are 4 users online for Brass Goggles.  No one is commenting, because no one is here anymore.  There are 100 guests, but they can't and don't comment.

Count me in as one of the people watching.  I don't know what to do to get more people participating.  Rather sad.

[jonb]

Maets keep a steady hand ups and downs are normal.

Love that carving, can't help but see a similarity to the interweaving carvings of western Europe, I wonder if something about being an ocean going culture tends to produce a certain style.

[SeVeNeVeS]

I must admit to lurking alot lately.

Count me in as interested, I love wood carvings and have purchased a few Indonsian examples in the past.

[Mercury Wells]

Oldest known Maori Carving .: known as the Kaitaia Lintel.




!950's  article giving a rather romantic description and explanation of  the carving
http://teaohou.natlib.govt.nz/journals/teaohou/issue/Mao14TeA/c23.html

Reminds me of a Bat'leth.

[Hurricane Annie]

Just to say I am really enjoying this thread

Going by the thread hits I think you're the only one.

Here is a modern meeting house.
The interior blows me away. Haven't got to those pictures yet.
Only took them this weekend.

Where is that one Selectedgrub ? It is a beautiful example.