LOT 2397

Maori Trawling Lure Fish Hook

NEW ZEALAND, 18TH-19TH CENTURY A.D.

3 1/2 in. (15.9 grams, hook: 90 mm).

An Oceanic fish-hook comprising a D-section wooden shank with polished shell panel (the lure) and barbed bone hook attached with twine. [No Reserve]

From the private collection of Kenneth Machin (1936-2020), Buckinghamshire, UK; his collection of antiquities and natural history was formed since 1948; thence by descent.

See Starzecka, D.C., Neich R. & Pendergrast, M., The Maori Collections of the British Museum, British Museum Press, 2010; Grulke, W., Adorned by Nature: Adornment, Exchange & Myth in the South Seas, At One Communications, 2022; Blau, D. & Maas, K., Fish Hooks of the Pacific Islands, Hirmer, 2012. Hooper, S., Pacific Encounters: Art & Divinity in Polynesia 1760-1860, British Museum Press, 2006.

This Maori trolling lure fish hook (pā kahawai) comprises three pieces – a worked piece of polished haliotis or paua shell attached to a curved, wooden shank, and then a carved long barb. Each of the segments is held in place by tightly bound muka fibre. Such lures were used by the Maori to fish for sea salmon (kahawai). The lure would be dragged behind a fast-moving canoe to attract the prey with the haliotis shell glinting in the sun to emulate the scales of fish to attract larger fish. The technique of using a trolling lure was a Polynesian fishing technique that was brought to New Zealand by the Maori and adapted using local materials.