Carved Bone Jewelry from New Zealand
Carved bone jewelry is a wonderful New Zealand gift for loved ones and friends. Available in different shapes, sizes and artistic expression you find the travel gift you are looking for. First the art of carving was a matter of survival. All their nutritional habits needed to adjust to a new environment. Sea food in abundance spiked their inventive abilities to create hooks best for the fish they intended to have for dinner. Depending on area and season different fish were accessible. So varied sizes and shapes were natural. The outcome of fishing successfully is family and tribal well being. So a fish hook matau transforms to hei matau a fish hook worn around the neck to serve adornment purposes. It is linked to the symbolic meaning of abundance, prosperity and safe travel particularly over sea. An ornamental carving passed on as a family heirloom is believed to bear the spiritual energy of its pre-possessor. The more important the owner was and the higher his achievements were the more valuable the carving becomes. With the bone carving jewelry also the stories of the wearer were transmitted to ad historical importance. For traditional carvings bones of whales, birds, dogs and humans were used alongside wood, paua shells and pounamu. Each material satisfied a different purpose like demand on form, size or strength. Highly treasured were whale bones for their density and size. Only stranded whales were used as they embodied a present of Tangaroa the god of the sea in Maori mythology. Today beef bones are most widely used for carved bone jewelry. For variation and colour nuances horse bones, pig tusks, deer antlers and goat horns are great sources. Whale bones of occasionally stranded ones are a matter of conservation and the local iwi that is the tribe of the area.
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