Post #413073 by Toataiaha on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 1:24 PM

There is no such word in the Maori Reo as teko.
And the 'internet practice of shortening words , does not legitimise the invention and use of it .
Gman , you said that you already knew , yet you went ahead and did it anyway Why ?

I am not 'trolling' , my seconed reply was to benzart.

About that particular tekoteko , there is a very good chance that it was moulded on a machine like this

'Hemi' the carver ?

The giveaways are the lack of clean sharp lines and the sanded smoothness . Some sanding marks are easily seen.
Maori wood carvers here do not generally use sandpaper. They usually surface pare .
There is some obvious tearing in the wood . Tearing that , if it did happen when being handcarved , would be pared away .
It is highly unlikely that the wood is kauri . No carver worth his salt would stain kauri , because that would destroy the chatoyance that kauri is prized for .

There is a fair chance that the 'tekoteko' was not even manufactured in either Te WahiPounamu or Aotearoa NZ .

In the heart of my soul . I would that I had been born in Celtic lands
But I was born here . A Celt in Maori lands . And my heart is content

[ Edited by: Toataiaha 2008-10-13 13:36 ]