Statue faîtière d'une maison de chef, Maori, Nouvelle-Zélande

Collection Josefowitz, Suisse
Patricia Withofs, Londres
Ron Nasser, New York, vers 1986
Collection privée

Exposition:
Musée Dapper, Paris, Vision d'Océanie, 22 octobre 1992 - 15 mars 1993

Au dos figure, inscrite à l'encre blanche, la mention : "12317 Neuseeland".

Publication:
Bounoure, Vision d'Océanie, Musée Dapper, 1992 : 23

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"En punition, Tangaroa captura Manuruhi, fils de Ruatepupuke, l'emmena dans sa demeure au fond de l'océan, substitua sa forme humaine et sa personnalité à celles d'un oiseau. Il le suspendit ensuite au sommet de sa maison sculptée, en guise de tekoteko" (Moko Mead, 1984 : 65).

Ce célèbre mythe Maori relate l'histoire de l'origine de la sculpture sur bois (whakairo), dont la maison sculptée et sa statue faîtière tekoteko constituent le fondement. La 'maison sculptée' (et les grandes maisons de réunion qui lui succéderont), tout comme la demeure des chefs importants et le grenier à nourriture évoqués dans les récits des premiers explorateurs, font l'objet d'un décor des plus élaborés et éminemment symbolique (Hamilton, 1901 : 79). Le fronton en particulier symbolise le corps de l'ancêtre fondateur : la poutre de faîtage en est la colonne vertébrale, les chevrons ses côtes, et la sculpture de faîtage, la tête - figurant le héro légendaire de la tribu. 

Cette sculpture de faîtage tekoteko s'impose parmi les plus exceptionnelles du corpus. Elle se distingue à la fois par la majesté de ses proportions, par la rareté de son iconographie - superposant une tête et trois personnages en pied - et par sa remarquable qualité sculpturale. Tandis que la plupart des tekoteko présentent une base très sommaire, ici chacun des personnages exalte un même sentiment de dignité, de calme et de pouvoir (mana). A la rareté de l'œuvre répond le remarquable traitement du visage aux traits naturalistes, entièrement envahi de tatouages curvilignes, asymétriques sur le front. Le naturalisme du visage et le dessin curviligne des formes situent son origine sur la côte orientale de l'île Nord, probablement dans la région de Poverty Bay. cf. Moko Mead (1984 : 217, n° 128) pour un élément de grenier stylistiquement comparable attribué à la tribu Ngati Kahungunu (côte est), daté entre la fin du XVIII^e et le début du XIX^e siècle. Ici, la sculpture aux outils traditionnels et la profondeur de la patine permettent également de dater cette statue faîtière à la fin de la période Te Puawaitanga (1500 - 1800).

cf. Simmons (1982 : pl. 231 a) pour une statue tekoteko typologiquement comparable conservée à l'University Museum de Philadelphie, et Starzecka, Neich et Pendergrast (2010 : pl. 28, n° 112) pour une autre, plus récente, dans les collections du British Museum.

Maori post figure from a chief's house, New Zealand

 'As a punishment, Tangaroa captured Manuruhi, son of Ruatepupuke, and took him to his home on the ocean floor where he substituted his human form and personality for that of a bird. He is suspended at the top of his carved housed, in the guise of a tekoteko' (Moko Mead, 1984: 65).

In this famous Maori myth concerning the history of the origin of wood carving (whakairo), the carved house and its tekoteko pediment statue are shown at the foundation. The 'carved house' (and the great houses of assembly which would later replace these), the residences of important chiefs, and the food granaries mentioned in the accounts of early explorers are the subject of a most highly developed and symbolic decoration. (Hamilton, 1901: 79). The pediment in particular symbolizes the body of the founding ancestor: the ridge beam is the spine, the rafters his ribs, and the sculpture of the summit - the head – displays the legendary hero of the tribe.

This tekoteko pediment sculpture is one of the most exceptional in the known corpus. It is distinguished by both the majesty of its proportions, by the rarity of its iconography – the overlaying of a head and three standing figures – and by its remarkable sculptural qualities. While most tekoteko sculptures have a very simple base, here each individual exalts the same sense of dignity, calmness, and power (mana). The rarity of the work responds to the remarkable treatment of the facial features with naturalistic traits completely covered with curvilinear tattoos, asymmetrical on the forehead. The naturalistic style of the face, associated with the curvilinear design of the forms, suggests an origin on the east coast of the North Island, probably in the locality of Poverty Bay. cf. Moko Mead (1984: 217, n° 128) for a stylistically comparable element of a granary, from the Ngati Kahungunu (east coast) tribe, dating from the end of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th century. The use of traditional tools and the deep patina allow us to date this figure to the end of the Te Puawaitanga period (1500 – 1800).

cf. Simmons (1982: pl. 231 a), for a typologically comparable tekoteko sculpture held at the University Museum of Philadelphia, and Starzecka, Neich and Pendergrast (2010: pl. 28, n° 112), for another, more recent, example in the British Museum collection.