Lintel (Pare or Kōrupe)

Maori; possibly Maori (Ngapuhi); possibly Maori (Ngati Porou); possibly Maori (Rongowhakaata); possibly Maori (Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki)

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This lintel, called a pare or kōrupe, symbolizes the threshold between realms and exemplifies the skill of Māori tohunga whakairo (master carvers). It is thus considered a taonga (treasure).

The central figure likely depicts a female ancestor known to the carver and his iwi, a group of Māori descended from a common ancestor. Like many figures in Māori carvings, her eyes are inlaid with pāua (abalone) shell. She is situated between two manaia, hybrid beings that navigate human and spirit realms.

Hung over entryways, pare represent the boundary between external and internal worlds, which people cross when walking underneath. This pare likely topped the entrance to a wharepuni (sleeping house) or pātaka (raised storehouse). It would have been one of many intricately carved architectural elements on marae (communal gathering spaces), each of which conveys aspects of iwi identity.

Recent provenance research by by Māori scholar Deidre Brown has determined that this pare was purchased by English missionary Thomas Kendall and sent to England in 1823, making it one of the earliest whakairo rākau (wood carvings) shipped to Europe from Aotearoa New Zealand. Research with Māori kaumātua (elders) and community members is ongoing and will hopefully shed more light on the history of this pare, its carver, and the iwi from which it came.

Object Label

Unlike Turner Towers’ purely decorative “stones,” Māori and Yorùbá architectural elements both incorporate distinctive symbols to convey spiritual and secular concepts. This Māori pare (lintel) symbolizes the boundary between the realms of gods linked with war and peace. The openwork motif depicts a female figure with shell eyes (center); at left and right are manaia, hybrid beings that can navigate between human and spiritual realms. The lintel likely topped the entryway or window of a wharenui (meeting house). Other figures surmounted the building’s roof and side posts. These features of the exterior sculptural ensemble projected iwi (tribal) identity into the marae, a multipurpose outdoor gathering space.

Caption

Maori; possibly Maori (Ngapuhi); possibly Maori (Ngati Porou); possibly Maori (Rongowhakaata); possibly Maori (Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki). Lintel (Pare or Kōrupe), late 18th–early 19th century. Wood, pāua shell, 13 1/2 x 35 1/8 x 1 7/8 in. (34.3 x 89.2 x 4.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Frank L. Babbott Fund and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 61.126.

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Artists and makers

Maori

48 works in the collection

Maori (Ngapuhi)

1 work in the collection

Maori (Ngati Porou)

2 works in the collection

Maori (Rongowhakaata)

3 works in the collection

Maori (Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki)