A Fine Maori New Zealand Greenstone ‘Manaia’ or Pendant Charm .

Period: 1700-1900

Origin: New Zealand ( Maori )

Medium: Nephrite ( Jade )

Dimension: 7 x 5 cm (2³/₄ x 2 inches)

Literature: Nephrite , New Zealand’s form of Jade , was the most precious possession of the Maori and many months were required to make these sculptures with the then existing techniques of drilling and abrasion with water and sand .
The humanistic characterization found in Heitiki has been almost entirely abstracted in this small sculpture . It has become the ultimate stylization of the human profile carved in the hard and intractable medium of ‘Pounamu’ or Maori jade .