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Originally Posted by Battara
It’s great that even for sale the quality of carving is being kept alive. I personally won’t mind a recent one of good quality (and it supports native artists).
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I agree completely. They are also a lot more affordable, the 'real' pre-contact ones are way beyond most collector's budgets and should also be in NZ. i have a couple 'vintage/antique (19c at best). well, maybe more than a couple.
A small sample: The square ended Taiaha is an evergreen one from NZ, use of new hardwood for them is restricted. The Rounded end one is a hardwood 'user' one from a UK dealer, it's about twice the weight of the other. The plain oine is a favourite, it's made from a special hardwood 'purirri wood' and is especially hard and durable with the cross-graining, used in the old days for fence posts as well as wooden Patu, some of the original ancient posts are still found and re-used. polishes up real nice too (and sharp). The large Mere Pounamu (greenstone) one is a tad over two kilos, greenstone also is becoming rare in that size and the maori guard their tribal sources...