Teko Teko

I found this Carving in an antique shop in Eastern Carolina today. The eyes are paua shells. There is an inscription on the back that says "hand carved in Rotorua New Zealand by Ben Hona" . I did some research and found that Ben Hona was a kaumätua (elder)of. Rotorua 's Ngati Whakaue people. I just found this interesting. If anyone has any other info, I would appreciate it.

[ Edited by: Tiki V 2010-03-27 14:18 ]

Nice find. Never heard of the artist but here is one from my collection carved by the artist Riona in New Zealand. About 16" tall and anatomically correct.

Her is a little bit about Tekoteko.
"Tekoteko Legend has it that the first tekoteko was the human Te Manuhauturuki, whom Tangaroa, god of the sea, placed as a gable figure on his wharenui. In rescuing his son Te Manu, Ruatepukepuke removed the carvings from Tangaroa's house and thus bought the art of whakairo to the people"

And this quote from the book Pacific Mythology by Jan Knappert "A wooden sculpted statue standing above the lintel of the entrance gate to the pa, the Maori village. These very artistically carved figures have the shape of men, animals or demons and possess great magic power"

Thanks for the info.