A fabulous Rei Niho from a wonderful piece of Totoweka Pounamu. A great design with amazing colour and spaced notches which truly enhances this beautiful carving.
Rei Niho(Eye Tooth) carved from pounamu, maintains the beauty of the traditional form, symbolising the intimate connection between Māori 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.
Totoweka- This stone is usually like the mid green Kawakawa variety but differs in that the spotting or streaks are red like blood. It is rare to find Totoweka in the Westland jade fields, but when a piece is discovered, it is highly cherished and sometimes becomes the show piece of the fossicker’s collection. Large deposits of Totoweka occur in the South Westland area. The name comes from toto (blood), weka (Native bush hen) or weka blood. The red iron oxide inclusions were likened to the colour of blood of the Weka.
Hand Carved by Conrad Henderson
Size 57mm Long x 46mm 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.
