Maori carving of late and slightly inauthentic character. The carving is cut from a single piece of wood which has a loop at one end of the long cubiodal piece and the remains of eighteen cylindrical pegs above. At t eh opposite end to the wooden loop are two figures sitting back to back with faces upturned. The whole is carved with a mixture of engraving styles that lack an overall cohesion. Some are traditional, other areas see to mimic the zig zag decoration of Fijian embracing and others (particularly the faces) seem to mimic the kowhaiwhai paintings on late nineteenth century Maori buildings. The overall impression is unconvincing. This object is perhaps part of an ornamental canoe or a piece of interior architecture.
