Know Your Maori Carving ~ Pownall Glen

The pre-eminent craft of the Maori is generally accepted as being their skilled wood carving and is to be expected of a skill that takes pride and place among their craft. Maori wood carving is surrounded by legends and myths, ascribing miraculous origins to the motifs and techniques involved. The easily worked timbers of New Zealand's primeval forests provided ready media for carving, even when it is recalled that the stone age tools, patterns and carving techniques used by the Maori together their modern equivalents are the subject of this section.First section is on basic carving, informing about the tools to use, choosing a design, carving techniques etc. Second section describes design elements that could be used, human and abstract.