Story: Whakairo – Māori carving

This heru (ornamental comb) is carved from a single piece of whalebone. The manaia (stylised beaked figure) carved into one end has an eye inset with pāua shell. Although this heru was made around 1800, the same materials were used for ornaments by Māori carvers from the earliest settlement of New Zealand. These materials are less perishable than wood, and so provide some of the oldest surviving examples of carving.