Ropata Davis Carved Maori Kotiate, Manaia Figure

Ropata Davis (Maori, b. 1950s). Wooden Wahaika Kotiate with nacre shell inlay, n.d. Signed on handle. A hand club carved from hardwood, with a blade forming the twin-lobed silhouette of the kotiate, a short weapon used in close combat and associated with chiefly status. The notched waist gives the form its name, "to cut the liver." Along the shaft is a manaia figure worked in spirals, with a bird-headed terminal at the grip, both set with paua shell eyes. Carved facets from the maker's blade are visible across the surface, and a braided fiber suspension loop passes through the handle. The piece is signed on the handle by its maker. Ropata Davis is a Maori carver, sculptor, author, and poet from Manurewa, South Auckland, New Zealand. Self-taught, he works across painting, sketching, and design, and has carved in crystal, stone, pounamu (jade), wood, bone, ivory, shell, whale tooth, antler, horn, and tusk, among other materials. His work is held in museum and private collections in Germany, Japan, Malaysia, the United States, and England. In 1994 he published Treasured Taonga (Random House New Zealand, ISBN 1 86941 223 0), a study of Maori bone carving technique and design illustrated with his own work. His carvings and profile appeared in Arts Dialogue between 1996 and 2002, including a carving responding to the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi and a two-meter taurapa (canoe sternpost). The kotiate, with its notched, two-lobed blade, functioned both as a close-quarters weapon and as a mark of rank; the manaia, a beaked profile figure, is a recurring guardian motif in Maori carving. Parts from certain animal species including nacre shell may require an additional license upon import into another country due to legislation relating to endangered species and environmental conservation. If you are not sure whether CITES rules apply to your item, please see the CITES Appendices. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. Item # 203987

Estimate:$450

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