A beautiful Rei Niho handcrafted from a gorgeous piece of Kokopu Pounamu, The blend of colours and patterns make this a rare treasure and will be a wonderful Taonga.
Rei Niho(Eye Tooth) carved from pounamu, maintains the beauty of the traditional form, symbolising the intimate connection between Maori and Tohorā. The mark of a high Chief was one who wore the rei niho (whale tooth pendant), as the teeth of the sperm whale (Paraoa) were highly prized because of their rarity. With actual whale teeth being such a rarity, it became common to fashion the tooth form from other materials such as this example created from Pounamu.
Kokopu- Greenstone from the West Coast Taramakau River area, West Coast. Comes in many colour variations from light to dark browns, creamy whites, light blues, olive greens to yellow even golden. Also known as trout-stone named after the dark brown, olive green and yellowish markings found on the three species of native freshwater trout. The spotted textures and range of colour give this stone a diverse presence.
Carved by Donna Summer
Size 90mm Long x 40mm 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.
