Maori Carved Architectural Panels with Manaia Figures

A pair of Maori carved architectural panels (Maihi), carved panels painted red. The apex ends feature three manaia figures with a band of takarangi (scroll designs) interspersed with manaia faces underneath. Plain uncarved section at midpoint. The projecting ends (raparapa) feature large manaia face with three separate bands of rauru (spirals) below. Some of the pua inlaid eyes are missing. The importance of ancestors in Maori culture is especially visible in their architecture. In the wharenui, the whole building symbolizes the body of the ancestor: the ridge beam corresponds to the backbone, the rafters to the ribs and the gable ends to the arms. When entering these traditional houses, the community would be in unison with the ancestral spirits and experience their power. Their facades, as with this example of maihi, are entirely sculpted with elaborate and entangled designs. The manaia, sinuous stylised figures associating human features with reptilian and avian characteristics, are the guardians of the place, whose functions are keeping out enemies and protecting the community. The eye of the viewer is attracted by the gleaming gaze of these manaia, goes from one spiral to another and gets absorbed into the interstices of the scrolls (takarangi) and dog-tooth notches (pakati). Dynamism and vitality are created giving life to those mythical and ancestral figures. The audacious complexity destabilizes as much as thrills whoever confronts this piece of Art. Provenance: The panels are believed to have been carved for Queen Victoria school for Maori girls in Parnell, Auckland, which opened in 1902 and closed in 2001. National registration numbers: Y13873 & Y13874, height 300 cm, width 34 cm, depth 6 cm (each)