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Teko Teko |
Tiki V
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 15, 2008
Posts: 32
From: Eastern NC
|  Posted: 2010-03-27 2:16 pm Permalink
I found this Carving in an antique shop in Eastern Carolina today. The eyes are paua shells. There is an inscription on the back that says "hand carved in Rotorua New Zealand by Ben Hona" . I did some research and found that Ben Hona was a kaumätua (elder)of. Rotorua 's Ngati Whakaue people. I just found this interesting. If anyone has any other info, I would appreciate it.
[ This Message was edited by: Tiki V 2010-03-27 14:18 ]
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uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 1543
From: Kalamazoo
| Posted: 2010-03-28 08:54 am Permalink
Nice find. Never heard of the artist but here is one from my collection carved by the artist Riona in New Zealand. About 16" tall and anatomically correct.
Her is a little bit about Tekoteko.
"Tekoteko Legend has it that the first tekoteko was the human Te Manuhauturuki, whom Tangaroa, god of the sea, placed as a gable figure on his wharenui. In rescuing his son Te Manu, Ruatepukepuke removed the carvings from Tangaroa's house and thus bought the art of whakairo to the people"
And this quote from the book Pacific Mythology by Jan Knappert "A wooden sculpted statue standing above the lintel of the entrance gate to the pa, the Maori village. These very artistically carved figures have the shape of men, animals or demons and possess great magic power"
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"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann
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Tiki V
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jul 15, 2008
Posts: 32
From: Eastern NC
| Posted: 2010-03-30 11:14 am Permalink
Thanks for the info.
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