Door Lintel

Carved wooden board. From Maori house: part of a window or door frame. The carving shows the figures of two human beings, their heads (at the two ends of the board) kept vertical in spite of the horizontal posture of the bodies. In each case, one three-fingered hand rests upon the middle of the body and two fingers of the other hand are placed at the corner of the mouth, the tongue protruding. The shoulders and hips are marked by spirals. This is a feature of the tattooing on which is also based the elaborate carving of the face. The legs are represented only by their extremities, juxtaposed to the hip spirals. In Ngati Porou style. Made with steel tools, c. 1880.