Maori Blue Willow Platter 30cm plate $136+p&p
I’ll build a whare, big enough for two,
Big enough for two my honey, big enough for two
When we get married, how happy we will be
Under the kowhai, underneath the kowhai tree
When my children were small and went to Te Kura o Hiwihau / Windy Ridge School in Glenfield, Friday assembly always ended with a chorus of enthusiastic group singing led by the fierce but very musical and well respected Maori teacher H.T. Rikihana. One of the items the children particularly liked performing was an exercise in spelling that took the form of a cheeky love song. This innocuous little ditty not only has a memorable and catchy tune but it also demonstrates how language elements in both Maori and English are used together to tell a story.
The Maori Willow pattern similarly fuses different but familiar visual elements by reinventing in design the traditional Chinese tale of thwarted young lovers who, pursued by outraged relatives, escape to an island in the Pacific where they establish a home and find happiness ‘underneath the kowhai tree’.
I’ll build a whare, big enough for two,
Big enough for two my honey, big enough for two
When we get married, how happy we will be
Under the kowhai, underneath the kowhai tree
When my children were small and went to Te Kura o Hiwihau / Windy Ridge School in Glenfield, Friday assembly always ended with a chorus of enthusiastic group singing led by the fierce but very musical and well respected Maori teacher H.T. Rikihana. One of the items the children particularly liked performing was an exercise in spelling that took the form of a cheeky love song. This innocuous little ditty not only has a memorable and catchy tune but it also demonstrates how language elements in both Maori and English are used together to tell a story.
The Maori Willow pattern similarly fuses different but familiar visual elements by reinventing in design the traditional Chinese tale of thwarted young lovers who, pursued by outraged relatives, escape to an island in the Pacific where they establish a home and find happiness ‘underneath the kowhai tree’.
Maori Taniwha & Manaia Platter 30cm plate $136+p&p
"When the manaia soars and the taniwha dances, the people will enjoy happiness for years, bringing peace, tranquility and health to all under heaven The above catchy tune demonstrates how language elements in Maori, English and Chinese are used together to tell a story. Inspired from an old Chinese design of a dancing dragon and phoenix in flight. To the Chinese these images symbolized auspicious good fortune. The dragon was considered a governor of rainfall and the phoenix the virtues of wisdom and grace. Composite species of indigenous birds and sea creatures, some now extinct, are merged into one. If you walk along the east coast after a storm you may be lucky enough to spot a sea-horse or dragon-horse washed up on the sand. Once so prolific, our local farmer named his property `Seahorse Farm’ after the delicate and graceful sea creatures. These mythical designs symbolise the guardianship we embrace to maintain our beautiful harbour, our ocean, and the quality of air we breath.
THE LAMENTATIONS OF TE WHARA
written & illustrated by Carole Prentice.
A photographic study. Located on the east coast of New Zealand, Whangarei Harbour, the author writes about a small carved figure known as a Poupou by the indigenous Maori people. She regularly visits the Poupou to dress it's sad little face with a garland of indigenous flowers to brighten the day.
PUBLISHED BY BLURB
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