feather box

Maori feather or treasure box of boat shape, with turtle-like human faces at each end. The hull of the box is divided into eight square zones by scrollwork, infilled with alternating bands of lozenges. These eight zones alternate in diagonal orientation to converge on the central point under the hull. On the lip, where the lid sits, there are two rectangular recesses to allow the lid to sit snugly.

Collection Information

These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.

The database sometimes uses language taken from historical documents to help research, which may now appear outdated and even offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.

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