Dominion Museum Notes MAORI RAFTER PAINTINGS

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 60, 4 December 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

Dominion Museum Notes MAORI RAFTER PAINTINGS

Polynesian Design And Artistry On the hekc or rafters of large Maori meeting houses a wonderful variety of paintings may be seen. 1 hese designs aie wholly unlike anything familiar to us in our ordinary conceptions of ait, and belong exclusively to the Polynesian and the days of the past. When they originated we cannot say; but we do know that under the hand of the Maori artisan a considerable evolution of types has taken place. The motif on which most of these designs ate built is a curving stalk with a bulb at the end of it, said to be derived from the opening frond of the tree fem 01 pitau.

Three colours —black, white, .and red—are used to adorn the rafters of Maori carved houses. The red is to Maori eyes easily the most beautiful, and is obtained by mixing kokowai or red clay with shark oil. But there are many grades of kokowai; and not all are easily powdered; so pounding is necessary in all cases before the kokowai is sufficiently flue for mixing. In the Dominion Museum are a number of old pounders, ami pounding-stones with the kokowai stili clinging to the stone. It is said that, this old-time paint was noted for its strong smell, and when used on rafters was almost overpowering, so much so that the house became more or less tapu for some days. Kokowai was an important article of trade and barter between tribes, for good material is not to be found in all districts.

In some instances at least, the white colour of the rafter patterns is obtained from pipe clay; but here again good material is not always available; so the natural colour of the wood often is utilised as a substitute for white. Black is obtained from soot or black earth from the ritupo swamps or peaty bogs. Bishop Williams states that the Ngati-porou tribe, in the Waiapu district, sometimes add a blue-gray, produced by a slimy clay known as tutaewhetu. Colours are arranged in a definite sequence according to the taste of the painter; but certain rules ap,pear to have been observed in all patterns, an alternating sequence of reds and blacks bounded by lines of the main design, giving a rhythmic effect to patterns and enhancing their beauty in a way that nothing else could have done.

The flower of the kowhai -may be traced in sotng designs; and one of the most common patterns is Rautawa (tawa leaf). Another pattern always placed below the prow of a Maori war canoe symbolises speed and represents the canoe moving swiftly as the water curls from the prow.

The interlocking design of the double spiral is present in Maori rafter patterns, as is the double spiral itself. Another design used to make up the rafter patterns in common use has a crescent

basis; but the crescents are incomplete, as rows of circular niches have been made around the outer edge. All designs have names, though many of these are lost. All names relate designs to similar objects in the surroundings. One represents the waves of the sea, another the hammerhead shark, and another the sand flounder or pgjLiki. An Original Artist

The Maori decorator does not copy. As far as he can, ho carries the designs in his head, and uses his -mind as a

picture gallery from which he may cull at will the patterns he requires. This method of producing a pattern does not at all accord with our modern notions. We notice that the ancient artist refuses to cramp the designs. Oftimes, patterns are too largo for the slab or panel; and, instead of suiting the pattern to the material, the artist draws what, he can and leaves the rest to the imagination. • Patterns consist of curves of one kind or another. Most of the straight lines seen in rafter patterns of presentday houses were absent in former times.