.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Des repose-pieds sculptés, appelés teka, étaient attachés à de longs outils (ko) utilisés pour piocher la terre. Tandis que pour beaucoup de teka la décoration était réduite au minimum, les plus rares étaient ornés d’une figure humaine sculptée en volume, somptueusement décorée, incarnant un ancêtre important qui favorisait la culture agricole. Ces teka plus finement sculptés, dont l’oeuvre présentée est un splendide exemplaire, étaient des objets cérémoniels essentiels, utilisés par les tohungas (prêtres) pour invoquer l’aide des dieux, Rongo, le dieu de l’agriculture, et Pani, la déesse qui amena le kumara (patate douce) dans ce monde.
Cette œuvre exceptionnelle incarne pleinement la virtuosité de la sculpture Maori. Un teka analogue datant du début de la période Te Huringa, attribué à Rukupo de Rongowhakaata sur la partie orientale de l’île du Nord, daté vers 1840, est conservé dans les collections du Tairāwhiti Museum & Art Gallery (inv. n° 72.77.77.27) et publié dans Moko Mead, S., Te Maori. Maori Art from New Zealand Collections, 1984, fig. 116.
Carved footrests for digging, called teka were lashed to long paddle-shaped cultivating implements called ko for use in actual planting and ceremonies connected to planting-related labor. The teka was fastened at an appropriate height from the lower end of the ko, while the ko was forced into the ground and there further inserted by the operator pressing his weight on the foot that rested on the teka. The length of the ko allowed of a good leverage, by which the earth was turned in the kumara (sweet potato) cultivations.
While on many teka decoration was kept to a minimal, some display an elaborate aspect with the human figure neatly carved in full volume and with lavish surface decoration. In these cases the carving on the step, which identifies the clan of the owner, embodies an important ancestor who assists in the agricultural work. These more elaborately carved teka, of which the present work is a splendid example, were significant ceremonial items used by the tohungas (priests) when turning the first piece of ground and planting a special plot invoking the aid of the gods, Rongo, the god of agriculture, and Pani, the goddess who brought the kumara to this world.
This exceptional work fully embodies the virtuosity of Maori carving. A very similar teka from the early Te Huringa period, attributed to Rukupo of Rongowhakaata on the Eastern part of the North Island, and dated around 1840, is currently in the collection of the Gisborne Museum and Art Gallery (inv. no. 72.77.27), published in Moko Mead, S., Te Maori. Maori Art from New Zealand Collections, 1984, fig. 116.
Cette œuvre exceptionnelle incarne pleinement la virtuosité de la sculpture Maori. Un teka analogue datant du début de la période Te Huringa, attribué à Rukupo de Rongowhakaata sur la partie orientale de l’île du Nord, daté vers 1840, est conservé dans les collections du Tairāwhiti Museum & Art Gallery (inv. n° 72.77.77.27) et publié dans Moko Mead, S., Te Maori. Maori Art from New Zealand Collections, 1984, fig. 116.
Carved footrests for digging, called teka were lashed to long paddle-shaped cultivating implements called ko for use in actual planting and ceremonies connected to planting-related labor. The teka was fastened at an appropriate height from the lower end of the ko, while the ko was forced into the ground and there further inserted by the operator pressing his weight on the foot that rested on the teka. The length of the ko allowed of a good leverage, by which the earth was turned in the kumara (sweet potato) cultivations.
While on many teka decoration was kept to a minimal, some display an elaborate aspect with the human figure neatly carved in full volume and with lavish surface decoration. In these cases the carving on the step, which identifies the clan of the owner, embodies an important ancestor who assists in the agricultural work. These more elaborately carved teka, of which the present work is a splendid example, were significant ceremonial items used by the tohungas (priests) when turning the first piece of ground and planting a special plot invoking the aid of the gods, Rongo, the god of agriculture, and Pani, the goddess who brought the kumara to this world.
This exceptional work fully embodies the virtuosity of Maori carving. A very similar teka from the early Te Huringa period, attributed to Rukupo of Rongowhakaata on the Eastern part of the North Island, and dated around 1840, is currently in the collection of the Gisborne Museum and Art Gallery (inv. no. 72.77.27), published in Moko Mead, S., Te Maori. Maori Art from New Zealand Collections, 1984, fig. 116.