A Maori Adze Blade (TOKI POUNAMU), New Zealand, Probably 19th Century Or Earlier

Of greenstone/nephrite jade and characteristic form, carved with a shallow groove along one side at the top and with slightly convex cutting-edge
17 cm.

Provenance
Given to Commander Coventry Makgill-Crichton-Maitland, then Sub-Lieutenant with the Prince of Wales (later George V) on his round the world voyage aboard the 'Ophir' in 1901

An old handwritten note offered with the lot reads: 'Greenstone Adze Head' from New Zealand given to me by Dr. Maitland of Auckland New Zealand when in the 'Ophir' 1901

For a related example formerly in the Lord MacAlpine and Leo and Lillian Fortress Collections, see Bonhams New York, Art of the South Seas, 9 February 2014, lot 178