Maori Pendant, New Zealand

European Collection, circa 1880

Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) Collection, London

Carlo Monzino (1931-1996) Collection, Lugano

Thence by descent

Sotheby's, New York, Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, May 19, 2001, lot 53, consigned by the above

German Private Collection, acquired at the above auction

Sotheby's, Paris, Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, June 16, 2010, lot 22, consigned by the above

Princely Collection, acquired at the above auction

Thence by descent

With Galerie Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, Paris, 2018-2019

Private Collection, Paris, acquired from the above in April, 2019

Fagg, W., The Epstein Collection of Primitive and Exotic Sculpture, Arts Council of Great Britain, Londres, 1960, n° 196

Bassani, E. and McLeod, M., Jacob Epstein Collector, Associazione Poro, Milan, 1989, p. 152, n° 580

Bacquart, J.-B., "L'oeil." Une illustre collection, Paris, 2018, pp. 190 - 191, n° 70

Bacquart, J.-B., Provenance. Beauté. Exception, Paris, 2019, pp. 54 - 55, n° 18

London, Arts Council of Great Britain, The Epstein Collection of Primitive and Exotic Sculpture, March 25 - April 23, 1960

Paris, Parcours des Mondes, Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, "L'oeil." Une illustre collection, September 11 - 16, 2018

Paris, Paris Tribal, Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, Provenance. Beauté. Exception, March 1st - May 1st, 2019

"Kati an otaku taonga nui I te pounam"

"May my greatest treasure remain the pounamu",

Te Otatu, chief of the Coromandel region, 1870s[1]

This Maori nephrite kapeu ear pendant is probably one of the most accomplished expressions of the art and tradition of this New Zealand culture.

Nephrite is undeniably the most precious of all materials for the Maori, and one of the major symbols of their cultural identity. For centuries, the Maori have devoted considerable effort to extracting and carving pounamu, as they call it, and fashioning the utensils, jewellery and ornaments or ceremonial weapons that can constitute the treasure of an entire family, and which, thanks to its sturdiness and durability, can be handed down from generation to generation.

Many ancient stories recount the spiritual origins of pounamu. In most of them, the figure of a taniwha (a type of water spirit) named Poutini represents the protective divinity of the precious pounamu sources and of the Maori people. Most of the deposits are located on the west coast of the South Island, known as Te Tai o Poutini (The Tides of Poutini) and in the mountainous regions known to the Maori as Te Wai Pounamu (Waters of the Green Stone). The geological layers of stone are weathered and eroded by the forces of water, and then, over time, pieces of varying sizes are transported by the water to the lower reaches of rivers, where they are picked up by local people to be carved.[2] “With no pack animals and unable to use dugout canoes on this exposed coastline, the Maori had to transport the uncut gangues on their backs, across high mountain passes and glacier-fed rivers. The men wore hemp sandals to protect their feet from the snow and sharp rocks.”[3].

In addition to ear pendants, Maori jewellery also includes hei matau, - pendants inspired by the shape of fish-hooks - and the famous hei tiki, worn only by men, women and children of high lineage. This last type of jewel is certainly the most emblematic and prestigious of them all. Ear pendants were either long, straight kurus, or kapeus with curved, crozier-shaped ends, like the one featured here. Most of these adornments are associated with the artistic heyday of Maori culture, a period known as Te Puawaitanga, which spanned four centuries, from 1500 to 1800.

This kapeu ear pendant was held in the Jacob Epstein Collection (1880-1959) as early as the 1950s, with part of the collection published by William Fagg in 1960[4]. It then passed into the collection of Carlo Monzino, before entering a famous Middle Eastern Prince's Collection and finally being acquired by its current owner, via Jean-Baptiste Bacquart, following the sale of the latter's collection upon his death. This illustrious provenance is compounded by the object's ancient history, as revealed by the plaque affixed to the Victorian black lacquered wood and red silk velvet base. It provides information on the origin of this pendant. It is thought to have been brought back to Europe as early as 1880 and to have been carved by a Maori chief named Pakahaka who lived in Taranaki. This is most likely where it was purchased during a European man's visit (probably an Englishman) in the late 19^th century.

In addition to its striking outline, this kapeu ear pendant stands out in the known corpus for the quality of its carving and its size. Its superb sense of balance and proportion borders on perfection. It is also 32 centimeters long, which is quite extraordinary. Some of the largest exemplars of this type - in the British Museum for instance - are no larger than fifteen centimeters[5], while those in the Museum of New Zealand in Wellington are just under twenty[6]. Knowing this it is easy to deduce that this adornment was intended for a very high-ranking person.

[1] La Pierre sacrée des Maori, Paris, Actes Sud / Musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac, 2017, p. 35

[2] Ibid. p. 15 and 20.

[3] Neich, R., « Pendentif en jade. Nouvelle-Zélande. Maori », in Mattet L. (ed.), Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie, Fleurons du musée Barbier-Mueller, Paris, 2007, p. 373

[4] Fagg W., The Epstein Collection of Primitive and Exotic Sculpture, Arts Council of Great Britain, Londres, 1960, n° 196

[5] Starzecka, D.C., Neich, R. and Pendergrast, M., The Maori Collection of the British Museum, 2010, p. 56, n° 338 - 341 and 347, plate 75

[6] In. ME002784/1 and OL002199.