Treasure box "papahou", before 1822 · New Zealand, Maori · ID: 3053598
Arno Henseler, Munich, Germany
Description
wood, pigments, handwritten note on the inside of the lid (partly illegible): “Carved Box sent by Mr Wm. Hall, Bay of Islands Dec. (…) Feb. 11 22”, “Eine geschnitzte Kapsel aus Neuseeland” (A carved capsule from New Zealand)
A similar work was sold at Sotheby’s Paris on 14 October 2025 (lot 95).
These elaborately carved containers held their owners’ most treasured personal possessions, including “hei-tiki” pendants, feathers worn in the hair, “heru” combs and other ornaments.
Both “papahou” and “waka huia” were imbued with the “tapu” of their owners, as they contained objects regularly worn against the body, particularly the head.
“Papahou” were suspended by cords beneath the roof of a dwelling house (whare), allowing their richly carved undersides to be seen. The head on this example, presumably representing an ancestor, is accordingly oriented downwards.
The containers and their contents were highly valued possessions that could be passed down through generations.
Comparing literature
Muensterberger, Werner, Primitive Kunst aus West- und Mittelafrika, Indonesien, Melanesien, Polynesien und Nordwest- Amerika, München 1955, ill. 104; Starzecka, Dorota C., et al, The Maori Collections of the British Museum, London 2010, p. 43