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History

Augustus Hamilton in Maori Art writes that a manaia is a "mythological animal, probably a kind of taniwha".

The taniwha is a reptilian water monster formerly much feared by the Maori. It is a highly complex form, composed of both human and bird elements, intermixed with the occasional additional animal features derived from reptiles and sea creatures. To the Pacific man, birds and reptiles were very much of a kind, as they are zoologically.

The mouth is curved to form a sharp beak. The glistening paua (abalone) shell for the eyes.

The spirals serve as points of movement or joint marks, for the jaw, shoulders & elbow.

The "three fingered hand" is found on many ancestral figures, some also show a back-bending thumb or spur. This shows an avian feature superimposed on the human image.

T. Barrow in Maori Wood Sculpture of New Zealand writes "The association of manaia with the human image, it's aggressive and apparently malignant behaviour, biting and grasping at the ancestor, suggests that it is a kind of demon or spirit, or man biting god class".

Size

Length: 720mm

Width: 210mm

Pricing

$2,000 NZ

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