| Native Name | Hei Tiki |
| Object Number | P2317 |
| Current Location | Collections Storage |
| Culture | Maori |
| Provenience | New Zealand |
| Period | Te Puawaitanga Period |
| Date Made | 1500-1800 CE |
| Section | Oceanian |
| Materials | Greenstone |
| Technique | Carved |
| Description | A hei tiki (human form pendant) made of pounamu (greenstone). Human figure with oversized head tilted to one side, arms akimbo, legs flexed, feet together. Pierced at top for suspension cord. Hei tiki are carved neck pendants of uncertain origin. Some believe that they represent Tiki, the first man; others believe that the pendants could represent Hineteiwaiwa, the guardian of fertility. Hei tiki are often heirlooms of prestige. Most were made of greenstone, though some were made of whale bone. Their value derives from the hours of labor required to carve the hard material and from association with the ancestors through whose hands the carvings have passed, from generation to generation. According to William O. Oldman, the pendant was collected on Captain Cook's third voyage, in 1777, by Midshipman Burr of H.M.S. Discovery. |
| Height | 9.6 cm |
| Width | 7.9 cm |
| Credit Line | Purchased from W. O. Oldman; Subscription of Herbert L. Clark in memory of Edward W. Clark, 1911 |
| Other Number | 22265 - Dealer's Number |
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