Hine - tu-a-Hoanga
me Poutini
Pounamu carving by Robyn Barclay
180mm x 150mm
A$18,000
The Maori view Poutini as Ngahue's pet fish fashioned from pounamu or greenstone, (Nephrite jade), and Hine-tu-a-hoanga personification of sandstone.
This carving
depicts the two in a loving embrace before they became embroiled in
a bitter dispute which sees Ngahue flee Hawaiki with his precious stone
to Aotearoa. Hine tu a hoanga follows in hot pursuit, they land at Tuhua
in the North Island and her relentless quarrelling, forces Poutini to
escape to the Arahura River, where upon this becomes the resting-place
of pounamu. It is known that sandstone, when rubbed on pounamu with
water is able to wear it away however the magnificence of the translucent
stone is revealed.
Today, the Arahura River is the predominant place where pounamu is found
in Aotearoa.
