This Tangiwai Pounamu Roimata is 10cm long, carved from deep dark green stone with a fine clear grain. The Roimata, or teardrop, symbolises healing, comfort, and connection, making it a meaningful taonga to wear close. When held to the light, the stone glows beautifully, revealing its depth. Finished with a black spiral lashing. I also have a matching piece available if you’d like a set of two.
Carved by David Curtis, Te Ara Ora (The Path of Life) is a 55mm tuna porohita crafted from beautiful kawakawa pounamu. Intricately carved on both sides with pāua eyes, flowing koru-inspired fins, and a concealed suspension, it symbolises resilience, adaptability, and life’s continuous journey.
Te Here o te Whenua speaks of the bonds that connect us to one another and to the land beneath our feet. This matching set includes a 70mm Toki and an 80mm Kōuma carved from the same piece of Pounamu from the Whakatū region. The stone displays striking blue tones alongside earthy green rind from the outer edge of the original boulder. Finished with black lashings, the pair remains connected through the stone from which they came.
Te Huna o te Kōhatu, meaning The Hidden Heart of the Stone, is a 65 mm hei toki carved from beautiful tangiwai. Deep green in natural light, the stone transforms when held to the sun or another light source, revealing an extraordinary glass-like glow from within. Finished with an angled cutting edge and suspended from a black cord, this taonga carries the traditional symbolism of strength, resilience, and determination.
Carved by David Curtis, Te Kaitiaki is a beautifully detailed Manaia pendant measuring 90 mm long. Flowing in the shape of a roimata, the design forms an elegant bird’s head with finely carved spiral details creating the eye and sweeping beak. Finished with a traditional three-hole ring bolt lashing on a tan cord, this one-of-a-kind taonga symbolises protection, guidance, and the connection between the physical and spiritual worlds.
Te Kākano o te Māia, meaning The Seed of Courage, is a 60 mm hei toki carved from beautiful tangiwai. With soft pale and mid-green tones flowing through the stone, it reveals remarkable translucency when held to the light, highlighting the natural patterns within the pounamu. Finished with a black cord, it is a taonga that symbolises strength, courage, and the determination to shape your own future.
Te Māramatanga is a handcrafted hei matau inspired by an historic taonga featured on the cover of one of the Pounamu Treasures books. Carved from beautifully translucent chalcedony, also known as carnelian in its orange-toned form, it displays soft cloudy patterns and warm amber highlights that glow in the light. Suspended from a white four-braid cord, this one-of-a-kind piece brings together the traditional symbolism of the hei matau with the distinctive beauty of an uncommon carving material.
Te Toka Pūmau is a connected set of taonga carved from a single cobble of Inanga Pounamu. The display stone forms the foundation of the set, while the Roimata and Toki were carved from the piece removed to create its base, permanently linking all three pieces through the same whakapapa of stone.
The display piece naturally resembles either a fern frond or a mountain range rising upward from the whenua. Rather than being shaped into that form, the natural contours of the cobble revealed it once the front face was polished. The Roimata and Toki both retain the natural rind on their backs, preserving the original surface of the stone while contrasting against the polished carved fronts. Together, the set represents grounding, connection, strength, and shared origins.
This taonga is carved from fine-grained Pākēho limestone, sourced from the Kaikōura coast, a stone traditionally used in Aotearoa for practical tools such as fishing lures. The natural pebble shape led the carving toward the form of a tōhora (whale), with a pāua shell eye set into the stone to bring the piece to life.
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