Amulet

Museum number: UEM144 a  

Material: Jade/semiprecious stone

Region and culture: Hokianga, New Zealand - Maori  

Description: Pendant or hei tiki. 9,4 cm. The hei tiki is a very stylised representation of the human form. Usually considered either female or genderless. The splayed hips, sometimes dilated vulva, bulging eyes and hands akimbo is considered to be representations of a woman in childbirth and thus the object can also be associated with gods of fertility. Made from jade (nephritt), these antropomorphic pendants are considered one of the most valuable taonga (treasured possesion) amongst the Māori. Jade is commonly found on the South Island of Aotearoa, New Zealand, yet the hei tiki is usually associated with the North Island. Due to the valuable nature of the hei tiki, the object is usually connected with the upper class amongst Māori, giving the object mana (power). Though not precisley dated, the hei tiki can be traced back to the Classical Māori period (Te Puawiatanga, 1500-1800).   

The object was collected by Fredrik Ring in Valparaiso, Chile in the 1820s. Konsul Ring donated the object to the Ethnographic Museum in 1833.