Knots on Maori Jewlery

General Discussion
1

Hi all,

I have been trying to duplicate these three knots seen on the jewlery (the links below), but have had poor success. I was hoping to find some guidance trough this forum, maybe someone could provide a source where instructions can be found?

http://koti.mbnet.fi/nikrus/maori/knot-1a_hei.matau.jpg
http://koti.mbnet.fi/nikrus/maori/knot-1b_hei-matau.jpg
http://koti.mbnet.fi/nikrus/maori/knot-2_hei-matau.jpg
http://koti.mbnet.fi/nikrus/maori/knot-3_toki.jpg

Regards

-KNi-

http://koti.mbnet.fi/nikrus/knotlinks.php

2

hello Nikrus!..
…i have no knowledge of this knot work…Maori string figures are world famous…their knotwork is also beautiful!!..i’ll be watching this thread!!!..
Dan-Alaska

3

Hi Nikrus and All :smiley:

I think the first piece of jewelry (1a/1b) is covered with Kackling/ Keckling, Which is a form of ringbolt hitching, also used to cover ring fenders, see ABOK #3604.
The method of putting the hitches on Might be similar to ABOK #3619, This is a Harpoon head mounting, It also looks like the material used might be Flax, The New Zeland kind, which is used in stip form? from what I can remember.
Maybe you could try a sample of Kackling over the end of a fid or other tapered object to give you an Idea.
There may possibly be a lip or an indent near the end of the knot work to secure the piece?

Not a definative answer, sorry, but I hope it helps.
Take care,
Barry.

Ps : the word harthingy should be Harpoon but the forum won’t let me spell it, but I am sure you know what I mean ???

4

Hi Nikrus,

I have added a section for Maori art in the SIG section of the Wiki http://igkt.pbwiki.com/ and posted a sample wrap at http://igkt.pbwiki.com/knot-3_toki

I posted a link to your image of the origional piece. If the image is yours, would you agree to a copy of the image being put on the page instead of the link?

Do you have any other perspective shots of these articles so that we could see the backs and sides or high resolution images so we could see greater detail.

This is a really interesting application of both art and functionallity. Do you have any more examples?

PS don’t forget that this Wiki is open to knotters to add/edit, simply log in with your name and email and use the password of igkt.

Derek

5
Hi Nikrus,

I posted a link to your image of the origional piece. If the image is yours, would you agree to a copy of the image being put on the page instead of the link?

Hi Smith,

Unfortunately the images are not mine. I have to admit that I have put them up without permission of the actual owner, which leaves me with a bad conscience. I am going to remove them within a wery short time

This is a really interesting application of both art and functionallity. Do you have any more examples?
There are quite a lot of sites on the net which are easy to find using a searchengine. Use searchkey's like 'bone carving' or 'bone art' for starters and you will find dozens of good examples.

Regards

-Kari Nikrus-

http://koti.mbnet.fi/nikrus/knotlinks.php

6

Hello Kari,

I did not know your name and must admit to following the example set by others is using the salutation Hi Nikrus.

I had no idea it was your surname. Please accept my appologies for my rudeness, it was not intended.

On the issue of the images, could you let me have the link to the original images so that I can change the Wiki link to the origional.

Regards
Derek

7
I had no idea it was your surname. Please accept my appologies for my rudeness, it was not intended.
No worries, I get that quite a lot.
On the issue of the images, could you let me have the link to the original images so that I can change the Wiki link to the origional.
Unfortunately I have no record of the original link. I think the matau pics were from this site: http://www.boneart.co.nz/custombone.html

I tried to find the toki pic, but I cant locate it anymore. There is, however, a picture at least as good on the same site as the mataus:

And here’s a few additional on the subject:

http://www.bonecarvingstudio.de/site/bones-werkstatt2.htm

http://www.aotearoa.co.nz/kiwikeeps/spiral1.htm

http://www.artsunique.co.nz/bone.php

I hope you can use these?

Regrds,

-Kari Nikrus-

http://koti.mbnet.fi/nikrus/knotlinks.php

8

I did some more picture hunting and I found the original toki: http://www.boneart.co.nz/custom/nathan/nj011.jpg .

I think you might find allso these interesting:

http://www.boneart.co.nz/custom/nathan/nj006.jpg

http://www.boneart.co.nz/custom/nathan/nj004.jpg

Regrds,

-Kari Nikrus-

http://koti.mbnet.fi/nikrus/knotlinks.php

9

hey, i’m assuming for most of those knots the back would look nearly identicle to the front?

10
hey, i'm assuming for most of those knots the back would look nearly identicle to the front?

Can’t really say, I have unfortunately not seen one of those in real life. Seen only pictures, but it looks like they would be the same on both sides.

11

Hi,

I’m a newcomer to the site - I’m not sure if anyone’s still following this thread but if so there’s a good book on Amazon that covers some of these techniques, it’s called Bone Carving: A Skillbase of Techniques and Concepts by Stephen Myhre,

Cheers

12

Welcome Origami,
Any information on knots is welcome here.
Info on an old topic is going to be treasured by some reader sometime.

Willeke