Treasure Box (wakahuia)
- Culture
- Maori artist
- Date
- early 19th century
- Material
- Wood, shell, greenstone
- made in
- New Zealand, Oceania
- Classification
- Containers, sculpture
- Collection
- Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
- Current Location
- On View, Gallery 108
- Dimensions
- 4 9/16 x 4 x 19 15/16 in. (11.6 x 10.2 x 50.6 cm)
- Credit Line
- Gift of Morton D. May
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 203:1975a,b
NOTES
Lavishly carved, the rich and fluid relief sculpture adorning this lidded box reveals male and female ancestral figures. On the base, shown to the right, two male figures flank a female figure at center. Their heads extend from either end of the container to form knobs, which allowed it to hang from the rafters of a Maori home. Household residents typically viewed the boxes from below.
Created primarily to hold the white-tipped black feathers of the now-extinct huia bird, these boxes also stored personal adornments made of materials such as wood, bone, greenstone, and whale ivory. Although a container for taonga (treasures), a wakahuia was itself a cherished object.
Created primarily to hold the white-tipped black feathers of the now-extinct huia bird, these boxes also stored personal adornments made of materials such as wood, bone, greenstone, and whale ivory. Although a container for taonga (treasures), a wakahuia was itself a cherished object.
Provenance
1965/03/29 - 1975
Morton D. May (1914–1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased at auction of Oceanic Art at Sotheby and Co., London, March 29, 1965, lot no. 96 [1]
1975 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Morton D. May [2]
Notes:
[1] An invoice dated April 9, 1965 from Sotheby and Co. to the Famous-Barr Co. (Morton D. May) documents the purchase of this object, listed as “Lot 96 A Large Maori Wood Feather-Box (waka-huia) of Long Flattened Form…” [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum; Oceanic Art, Sotheby and Co., London, March 29, 1965, lot no. 96].
[2] A letter dated August 14, 1975 from Morton D. May to Mary-Edgar Patton, acting director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, includes the offer of this object as part of a larger donation [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, November 6, 1975.
Morton D. May (1914–1983), St. Louis, MO, USA, purchased at auction of Oceanic Art at Sotheby and Co., London, March 29, 1965, lot no. 96 [1]
1975 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, given by Morton D. May [2]
Notes:
[1] An invoice dated April 9, 1965 from Sotheby and Co. to the Famous-Barr Co. (Morton D. May) documents the purchase of this object, listed as “Lot 96 A Large Maori Wood Feather-Box (waka-huia) of Long Flattened Form…” [May Archives, Saint Louis Art Museum; Oceanic Art, Sotheby and Co., London, March 29, 1965, lot no. 96].
[2] A letter dated August 14, 1975 from Morton D. May to Mary-Edgar Patton, acting director of the Saint Louis Art Museum, includes the offer of this object as part of a larger donation [SLAM document files]. Minutes of the Acquisitions Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, November 6, 1975.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at provenance@slam.org.