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Feather Box

CultureMaori
Datec. 1830-1840
MediumWood, shell, and pigment
DimensionsOverall: 4 3/4 × 21 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches (12.07 × 54.93 × 20.96 cm)
.1 (box): 3 5/8 × 21 5/8 × 8 1/4 inches (9.21 × 54.93 × 20.96 cm)
.2 (lid): 1 3/4 × 17 1/4 × 8 inches (4.45 × 43.82 × 20.32 cm)
Credit LineGift of Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, 2025
Object number2025.56.119.1,2
On View
Not on view
DescriptionIntricately carved wooden box used to store feathers and precious adornments. Curvilinear decoration known as rauponga designs are incised on both the top and underside of the box. Two abstract heads, called wheku, extend from the ends of the base. The faces of the wheku are carved with tattoo designs and have shell inlay in their eyes.Provenance

With Mauna Kea Galleries, Hawaii, by 1999

Purchased from Mauna Kea Galleries by Ralph T. Coe (1929-2010), November 2, 1999-2010;

His bequest to the Ralph T. Coe Center for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM, 2010-2025;

The Coe Center's gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2025.

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