Carved Treasure Box
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1858
label: Collection Date
content: 1840
name: label: Donor Name
content: United States Exploring Expedition
notes: label: Notes
content: CARVED BOX, "WAKAHUIA," CALLED A TREASURE OR FEATHER BOX; OF RECTANGULAR SHAPE WITH TWO HUMAN HEADS AT EITHER END WITH ABALONE (HALIOTIS) [paua] INLAID EYES. THE BOX IS COVERED WITH STRAIGHT LINE DESIGN, "PAKATI" STYLE. EXAMINED AND IDENTIFIED AS AN EAST COAST, BAY OF ISLANDS STYLE BY H.D. SKINNER, 1922 AND D.R. SIMMONS, 1974. HAS ORIGINAL PEALE TAG. PUBLICATION: USNM PROCEEDINGS, VOL. 79, ART. 30, PL. 11B, P. 54. THIS OBJECT HAD BEEN ON PERMANENT EXHIBIT IN THE PACIFIC HALL, BUT WAS REMOVED AND EXHIBITED MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 1985-86. EXHIBITED SITES "MAGNIFICENT VOYAGERS," 1987-89.
label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "ILLUS. USNM PROCEEDINGS, VOL.79, ART. 30; PL. 11B. P. 54. D.R. SIMMONS, NOV. 1974; WAKAHUIA OF RECTANGULAR SHAPE WITH TWO HUMAN HEADS, THE REST OF THE BOX BEING COVERED WITH STRAIGHT LINE DESIGN (PAKATI) STYLE. EAST COAST MADE WITH STEEL TOOLS. H. D. SKINNER, MAY 1922, DUNEDIN, NZ: THIS APPEARS TO BE A LOCAL BAY OF ISLANDS TYPE. A BOX CLOSELY RESEMBLING THIS WAS COLLECTED BY BARON VON HUGEL IN THE "THIRTIES". IT IS NOW IN CAMBRIDGE, MUS. ENGLAND. CARVING OF BOTH EXAMPLES EXECUTED WITH STEEL TOOLS."
label: Notes
content: Peale catalogue identifies #s 510 - 512 as "Dressing case (waka o te pare) of a New Zealand chief." Additional notes from D.R. Simmons, Curator, Auckland Institute and Museum, Auckland, New Zealand, 1973: "Waka o te pare = box for ornaments. These are more commonly called wakahuia or papahou, or in English - feather or treasure boxes."
label: Record Last Modified
content: 30 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) / Bay of Islands, New Zealand (Aotearoa), Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Maori
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 66A00050
label: USNM Number
content: E3787-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Box
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 54 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 18 cm
label: Height - Object
content: 12 cm
label: Length - Object
content: 54 cm
label: Width - Object
content: 18 cm
label: Depth - Object
content: 12 cm