Gable Mask (Koruru)
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Object Label
The Maori believed certain structures—communal meeting houses, the houses of chiefs, and some food storage buildings—symbolized the body of an important ancestor, with the ridgepole indicating the backbone, the rafters the ribs, and the slanting facade boards the arms. Placed at the apex of the gable, the gable mask depicts the face of the honored ancestor.
Caption
Maori; Possibly Maori (Ngati Porou); Possibly Maori (Rongowhakaata). Gable Mask (Koruru), ca. 1860. Wood, pāua shell, 19 7/8 x 10 3/4 x 1 7/8 in. (50.5 x 27.3 x 4.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, 03.217. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Title
Gable Mask (Koruru)
Date
ca. 1860
Geography
Place made: Gisborne, North Island, East Coast, New Zealand
Medium
Wood, pāua shell
Classification
Dimensions
19 7/8 x 10 3/4 x 1 7/8 in. (50.5 x 27.3 x 4.8 cm)
Inscriptions
"03.217" written in black on back of head; blue-rimmed label reads: "Carved Mask, from Paus[sp?], or Maori Chiefs House - (very old) New-Zealand"
Credit Line
Brooklyn Museum Collection
Accession Number
03.217
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