This is an incredible handcrafted hidden half hidden Koruru from an exceptional piece of Raukaraka Pounamu. The colour and patterns in this stone are fantastic and with face emerging from inside the Pounamu, makes this a truly unique taonga, carved by a master carver.
Koruru
are architectural features on large whare tupuna or wharenui (meeting houses) that join the two-front facing maihi (barge boards) at the top apex. A koruru's face is also the face of the represented tupuna (ancestor) embodied in the carved constructed form of the whare tupuna. Many whare whakairo are named after ancestors. The building is regarded as an outstretched body. The koruru (gable head) is the face of the ancestor, the maihi (bargeboards) the arms, the kūwaha (door) the mouth, the tāhuhu (ridgepole) the spine, and the heke (rafters) the ribs.
Raukaraka- Genuine West Coast Greenstone from the Taramakau River Area. This is the term used by the Māori of the Cook Strait region of the Kawakawa variety that is streaked with a shade of olive green and has yellow and orange hues that blend into the greens. This stone shares its name with the New Zealand native Karaka tree.
Hand Carved by Des Hetherington
Size: 74mm long x 47mm wide
This will be the exact piece you will receive in the photos, there may be a slight degree of colour variation based on different computer or device screen resolutions that you are viewing from.
