Māori carvings overseas
Posted 27 January 2009 // Guest blogger – Paul Diamond
Hatupatu carved by master carver Tene Waitere
An 8-metre tall carved pouhaki (flagpole) has been installed in Cambridge University’s Museum of Anthropology, 88 years after it was presented to the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) during his 1920 visit to New Zealand.
The pouhaki was carved from a single tree trunk by Ngāti Tarawhai master carver Tene Waitere (1853/1854?–1931). After being shipped to England, it was installed in a rose garden at a naval base in Portsmouth, where it was noticed by Waitere’s great-great-grandson Jim Schuster, a conservator with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Working with students from University College of London, and using his grandfather’s tools, Schuster restored the pouhaki.
Jim Schuster is also involved with restoration of a house carved by Waitere. Hinemihi, a carved house that sheltered survivors of the Tarawera Eruption in 1886, is now in the grounds of Clendon Park, a stately home in Surrey. The house has become a focal point for Ngāti Ranana, a London-based Māori cultural group.
Rauru, a larger house that once stood near the entrance to the Whakarewarewa village in Rotorua is in the Museum für Völkerkunde in Hamburg. When Rauru was taken to Germany, the house (Nuku-Te-Apiapi) erected in its place also featured carvings by Waitere.
These examples are just a few of the many taonga (treasures) to be found in overseas museums, especially in Germany and Britain.
