RARE CARVED KAURI GUM BUST OF MAORI KING TAWHIAO OF NEW ZEALAND - NO RESERVE

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RARE CARVED KAURI GUM BUST OF MAORI KING TAWHIAO OF NEW ZEALAND - NO RESERVE:
$566.00

RARE CARVED KAURI GUM BUST OF MAORI KING TAWHIAO OF NEW ZEALAND - !

This incredibly rare Kauri Gum Bust is of Maori King Tawhiao of New Zealand. This hand carved bust comes from a major sale house, of which we will include the original listing information to the winner of this sale.

The bust is intricately carved and painted and we\'ve never seen a piece quite like thisfor sale! Really a one of a kind piece that one may neverencounter again!

Read more about this prominent Maori King below!

This is one of MANY important sales starting at $1.00 this week!Be sure to view our other other listings!

3 3/4\" x 2 1/2\" x 2 1/2\" inches
About King Tawhiao:\"Tāwhiao\'s father,Te Wherowhero, was the leader of the Waikato people, and his mother,Whakaawi, was Te Wherowhero\'s senior wife.After the Waikato were defeated by musket-armedNgāpuhiled byHongi Hikain a battle at Matakitaki (Pirongia) in 1822, they retreated toOrongokoekoea Pā, in what is now theKing Country, and lived there for several years. Tāwhiao was born at Orongokoekoea in about 1825 and was named Tūkāroto to commemorate, it is said, his father\'s stand at Matakitaki.Tūkāroto was later baptised Matutaera (Methuselah) byAnglicanmissionary Robert Burrows,but repudiated it in 1867.Te Ua Haumene, the Hauhau prophet, gave him the name Tāwhiao in 1864. Tāwhiao was raised by his mother\'s parents.In 1858 Te Wherowhero was installed as the first Māori King (taking the name Pōtatau), his purpose being to promote unity among theMāori peoplein the face ofPākehā encroachment. When Pōtatau died in 1860, Tāwhiao, his sisterTe Paea Tiaho, andWiremu Tamihana TarapipipiofNgāti Hauawere candidates to succeed him.Tāwhiao was chosen and reigned for thirty-four years during one of the most difficult and discouraging periods of Māori history. During this period there were de jure two governments;English lawand governance prevailed within the British settlements and Māori custom over the rest of the country,although the influence of the King was largely confined to the Waikato and even there chiefs such as Rewi Maniapoto only cooperated with the king when it suited him. However the Pākehā population was increasing rapidly while the Māori population was unknown as there was no reliable census of Maori and Pakeha/ Maori for 80 years. Because Maori separated themselves from Paheka, many believed, wrongly,that the Maori population was declining rapidly.This was also the period when British industrial,trade and political power was at its height. The presence of an independent native state in the central North Island was officially ignored by the government until it developed the potential to undermine the colonial government\'s sovereignty.In 1863, after Maniapoto warriors ambushed and killed British soldiers escorting a British soldier along the beach to New Plymouth for trial, and in defence of theTreaty of Waitangi, the Colonial Government, backed by some fourteen thousand Imperial troops,and supported by a wide range of loyal Maori, including hapu from the Waikato who did not support the King movement,the Government attacked the Kingitangain Waikato, to suppress the King movement and remove the threat of an attack on Auckland. Some Waikato people, mainly Manaipoto, tried to attack Auckland but were defeated at Pukekohe East and then in a series of 17 further battles . The Waikato tribes,divided and against the wishes of the king set up a number of Pa but were forced to retreat in the face of superior generalship,a naval armada,a huge modern professional army guided by local settlers and Maori, who knew the lie of the land and backed by a flood of heavy weapons imported or lent from Australia,mainly New South Wales. The conquered land was confiscated, altogether about a million acres (4,000km²). Six months later, with a change of government,the king was offered large reserves which he initially refused but much later accepted.Tāwhiao and his people moved southwards, into the territory of theNgāti Maniapoto, the area of New Zealand that is still known as theKing Country. He was a pacifist, or perhaps he was simply a realist who recognized the futility of trying to fight the Colonial government. For the next twenty years he lived an itinerant lifestyle, travelling among his people in Taranaki and Maniapoto settlements reminding them that war always had its price and the price was always higher than expected. He considered himself the anointed leader of a chosen people wandering in the wilderness.But he also predicted that the Māori people would find justice and restitution for the wrongs they had suffered.He preached that Kingites should keep separate from Pakeha. He was strongly against Maori children going to school to get an education. As a result when the railway went through Kingite territory Kingites were only able to get unskilled jobs such as bush clearing. This strong anti education stance started a Kingite tradition that led to increasing isolation and lower standard of living than Maori experienced elsewhere in New Zealand. It was not until after the turn of the century that Kingites were finally persuaded to abandon their hatred of formal education in schools.In1878the New Zealand Government withGeorge Greyas Premier approached Tāwhiao with the proposal that some of their Waikato land would be restored to them if they would accept the integration of the King Country with the rest of New Zealand. On the advice of his council Tāwhiao rejected the offer. However it was accepted three years later in a modified form.In the early 1880s there had already been two failed petitions taken to the British government by Maori. By 1884 there were only 1,000 kingite supporters left.King Tāwhiao went around the North Island collecting money,this netted 3,000 pounds. He from withdrew all the funds that had been deposited in the kingitanga bank by the many Maori land sellers and travelled to London to seeQueen Victoriato try and persuade her to honour the Treaty between their peoples. He did not get beyondLord Derby,Secretary of State for the Colonies, who said it was a New Zealand problem. Returning to New Zealand the Premier,Robert Stout, insisted that all events happening prior to 1863 were the responsibility of the Imperial Government. The Maori bank depositors finding their money gone, raided the bank, looking for their cash and finding none, burnt it down in 1884.Tawhoiao\'s petition was different from the previous failed ones. He asked for nothing less than the complete, separate, Maori self-government .Thoroughly disillusioned Tāwhiao tried various initiatives to promote the independence and welfare of his people but he had been effectively marginalized. His problems were not solely due to the attitude of the New Zealand Government. TheKing Movementhad never represented all the Māori people and as it lost itsmanaor standing they became even more disunited. During the remainder of his life Tāwhiao was respected and even entertained as royalty by many of the Māori and Pakeha people. But he was allowed almost no influence over political events, as he had no legal authority.Tāwhiao is buried atMount Taupiri. He was succeeded as king by his sonMahuta Tāwhiao.\"
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