Maori Prow Head, New Zealand

Major Général Horatio Gordon Robley (1840-1930) Collection, collected in situ between 1863 and 1866

Frank Peak Collection, Nouvelle-Zélande, acquired before 1920

English Private Collection, until 2003

Philippe Guimiot, Brussels

Sotheby's, Paris, Philippe Guimiot et Domitilla de Grunne, Collection d'Art Premier, 17 June 2009, lot 65

Collection Daniel Hourdé, Paris, acquired following the above sale

“The word Maori did not originally refer to a people. Maori was an adjective meaning original, indigenous, as opposed to those newly arrived (...).

Thus, when the indigenous people referred to themselves as “tangata Maori,” it meant “indigenous people.” After European contact, the adjective Maori became a noun. This change took place before 1815. Tangata, a true Maori noun, means “human being.” 

Ewan Jones, Myreille Pawliez, Dictionnaire Néo-Zélandais-Français, Arcizet 1970, p. 103

This magnificent war canoe prow— a tauihu in Maori — is a powerful testament to the art of navigation and ritual carving in Māori culture.

Fastened to the front of the waka taua (war canoe), the prow embodies military, identity, and spiritual functions, often incorporating representations of the god of war Tūmatauenga and protective motifs intended to support the browsers during expeditions and battles.

The prow symbolically protects and aids navigation through the domain of the god of the sea, Tangaroa.