Artwork information

Haora Tipa Koinaki was a staunch fighting chief from Thames and is remembered as a quiet man. His hei tiki conforms to traditional forms yet it is not known whether this ornament belonged to Koinaki. In contrast to women, few men are depicted wearing hei tiki in the Gallery’s collection of Māori portraits. In 1919 a commentator had this to say: ‘As woman is the bearer of man, it is proper that women only should wear the Tiki; this, with few eccentric exceptions, she does.’