Maori Paddle, New Zealand

Christie's, London, April 4, 1989, lot 198
Abraham Rosman and Paula Rubel, New York, acquired at the above auction

Maori paddles, called hoe or hirau, have a distinctive, slender quality. Here the flat blade of the paddle contrasts with the sinuous, undulating form of the handle, which terminates in an acrobatic female figure. The figure’s head has been lost, seemingly long ago, and a face crudely engraved in its place by a former owner whose hand was less practised and sure than that of the Maori tohunga who first created this hoe.