Maori Mere pounamu

kronckew · 5th July 2014, 06:16 AM

thanks, bought mine from a local (UK) antique dealer in an online auction. only info i had was it was obtained 30-40 years ago. (estate sale?)

the 'in hand' photo (my hand - tho it appears a bit redder in the photo than actual) shows the side with slightly larger 'lighter' areas. vendor did mention they were still being made today.

found a seller in NZ online that sells new ones, at quite a bit more than i paid for one a few inches shorter, they also mentioned that you could get it with a rougher finish 'to make it look older', which is cheating.

mine is very highly polished. there are, however, a small arewa of some shallow ripples, tool marks in the narrowest bit on the sides just before the pommel that were not smoothed out completely that i can just feel with my finger tips and can just make out visually if i look real close.

google images brings up quite a few museum/antique examples, darker (almost black) and lighter. seems to be a fair variation. saw some that were auctioned for 20 times what it cost me. they must have had some strong provenance.

5th July 2014, 06:16 AM	#4
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,224	thanks, bought mine from a local (UK) antique dealer in an online auction. only info i had was it was obtained 30-40 years ago. (estate sale?) the 'in hand' photo (my hand - tho it appears a bit redder in the photo than actual) shows the side with slightly larger 'lighter' areas. vendor did mention they were still being made today. found a seller in NZ online that sells new ones, at quite a bit more than i paid for one a few inches shorter, they also mentioned that you could get it with a rougher finish 'to make it look older', which is cheating. mine is very highly polished. there are, however, a small arewa of some shallow ripples, tool marks in the narrowest bit on the sides just before the pommel that were not smoothed out completely that i can just feel with my finger tips and can just make out visually if i look real close. google images brings up quite a few museum/antique examples, darker (almost black) and lighter. seems to be a fair variation. saw some that were auctioned for 20 times what it cost me. they must have had some strong provenance. Last edited by kronckew; 5th July 2014 at 06:38 AM.