Classic Toki

Basalt, a dense and hard volcanic rock, has been a prized material for carving throughout New Zealand’s history. Its strength and durability made it ideal for both tools and adornments. I recently had the privilege of carving a toki (adze) from a piece of basalt sourced near Akaroa, a beautiful harbor town on the Banks…

This is a stunning example of classic kawa kawa pounamu. It is from the Arahura river. 8cm long. The Toki was a originally a tool used by Maori. The pounamu was painstakingly shaped into heavy and robust forms and could be either lashed to a handle or held in the hand. They were used for…

Very cool pounamu on this classic toki. The clouds in it give it heaps of character.

Gorgeous color in this set of Kahurangi – Apple green toki. They are about 5-6 cm long. Made for two brothers that share a deep connection, and now share connected pounamu as well.

This toki is made for a graduation.  It is made for someone that has a connection with both the Yukon where this jade is from and with New Zealand where they completed their studies. I really like the white flower pattern near the lashing on this one, it is inclusions like this that give a…