Maori End-Blown Straight Flute, New Zealand

Maori End-Blown Straight Flute, New Zealand
koauau
length 7in (18cm)

Provenance
Richard I.M. Kelton Collection, Marina del Rey, California

This fine and rare example is intricately carved of hard wood in cylindrical form, hollowed out in the interior; decorated on opposing sides with three stacked tiki figures carved in high relief between fields of incised curvilinear designs; pierced through with three finger holes on one side; fine original, unpolished reddish-brown patina.

Cf. Cf. Starzecka, Dorota, Roger Neich and Mick Pendergast, The Maori Collections of the British Museum, The British Museum Press, 2010, figs. 485-94