Description

Tiki wall hanger or tiki on a stand. Are you looking for a contemporary Maori gift? These Maori artworks are crafted from plantation grown gaboon using laser technology. And all the artworks are hand assembled. This piece of art boasts super fine detail, paua inlay. And it comes complete with wall mount or stand, related story and protective box.

• size tiki wall hanger:
  235mm x 148mm (9.25″x6.34″x5.83″)
• size tiki on stand:
  260mm x 148mm (10.24″x6.34″x5.83″)

Beautiful Maori art.
Buy your tiki wall hanger or tiki on a stand from Aotearoa.co.nz.

The meaning of Te Tiki:

• Hei Tiki. Hei means ‘to wear around the neck’. And ‘Tiki’ means ‘first man. The origins of ‘Tiki’ are uncertain. Throughout Maoridom he is acknowledged as the first man and that he came from the stars. He is sometimes depicted as an amphibious person with large fishlike eyes and webbed feet and considered the teacher of all things. And in some accounts of ancient Maori folklore ‘Tiki’ was the first man created by ‘Tane’ (God of the Forests and Men).’Tiki’ formed woman from the earth after admiring his own reflection in the water.
  

  Taonga:

  Therefore “Hei Tiki” were regarded as precious taonga (treasures) and were predominantly carved from pounamu (greenstone).It is thought that the diverse forms of “Tiki” were the result of the carver being constrained by the shape of his stone as it was extremely hard and difficult to shape with primitive grinding tools.

  Spiritual significance:

  “Hei Tiki” have spiritual significance to Maori, therefore they were passed down from generation to generation and it was believed that they acquired the importance and power (mana) of each of the passed tipuna (ancestors) to have worn it. Also the colonising Europeans assumed the “Hei Tiki” worn as a pendant by Maori women was primarily a fertility symbol and they became sought after as a valuable trading commodity.

  Source: Mike Calton – Maori artist