MAORI WOOD SCULPTURE

Te Ao Hou, 1972, Page 58

MAORI WOOD SCULPTURE by T. E. Barrow A H. & A. W. Reed, $9.50 reviewed by J. M. McEwen This is a beautifully produced book with a fine range of illustrations, both in colour and black and white. It is the most ambitious work on Maori carving since Hamilton's Maori Art was published at the end of last century. In a letter to me, the author says, “As a book I intended it as a selection of good carvings presented with documentation placed conveniently close to plates to help and sponsor Maori carving. It is not a book to compete with any that has appeared in the past although I hope it will help books of the future.” With that background, the book is an excellent publication. It is by no means the last word on the subject. We still need an authoritative work which covers the whole field of Maori carving including such aspects as the analysis of design, the story of the individual carvers and their characteristics, the derivation of Maori designs, and so on. Some work on these topics has been done by Sir Gilbert Archey and Dr H. D. Skinner, but a great deal more remains to be done. Inevitably in a work of this nature, there is a certain amount of theorising and Dr Barrow is one of those who believes the manaia to be a bird-headed creature of some symbolic importance. There is in fact no authoritative Maori evidence that I am aware of which supports this view. On the other hand, one cannot but be impressed by Archey's evidence that the manaia is simply a human figure shown in profile. Manaia is a widespread word in Polynesia which basically means ‘decoration’ or ‘embellishment’. There seems little doubt that many of the smaller manaia figures seen in carvings serve as embellishment. They are frequently used, for example, in all sorts of distorted shapes to fill in odd corners on a carved slab. When I read the book, I had the impression that Dr Barrow thought little of the carving done in the last century and that he could see little future for it in a world where it had no social importance. I put this suggestion to the author and it is as well to quote his reply: “I am distressed

that you have the impression that I am unaware of the place of carving in modern Maori life or its meaning to modern Maoris. To tell you the truth the meaning of this book to me, whether I say it or not in the text, is just that it will be of service to furthering appreciation of Maori woodsculpture and of Maori culture in general.” Anyone who is interested in Maori carving should buy this book. As I have said above, I do not think it is the last word on the subject but it is a work that interested people cannot afford to be without.