Standing figure "poutokomanawa" ·  New Zealand, Maori · ID: 3053713

Description

wood, pigments, mother-of-pearl, base

This impressively carved figure depicts a “poutokomanawa”, the central heart post or main post of the traditional Maori meeting house (“wharenui”). As a load-bearing element, it connects the ridge beam “tāhuhu” to the body of the house. In traditional belief, the “wharenui” is understood to represent the human body: the “tāhuhu” corresponds to the spine, whilst the “poutokomanawa” embodies the heart of the house.

The human figure depicted at the base of the post is to be understood as a significant ancestor (“tūpuna”) of the tribe. The sculptural carving, with its characteristic shell inlays in the eyes and at knee level, lends the figure a particular expressiveness. As the bearer of the ancestral presence, the “poutokomanawa” held not only architectural significance but also a central spiritual and genealogical importance within the “wharenui”.

Comparing literature

Starzecka, Dorota C., Taonga Maori in the British Museum, London 2010, ill. 142