Maori Pare

This Maori Pare or carved lintel is from the doorway of a carved Wharenui. The history of this pare unknown but is attributed based on stylistic heritage to the Whanau-a-Apanui tribe of the eastern Bay of Plenty. A wharenui (literally “big house”) is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand. The wharenui is usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English or called whare.

Meetinghouses became places for tribal celebrations or political meetings, especially after the 1860s Maori Land Wars. They were a place to display largesse and enhance mana meaning “power and prestige” with elaborate feasts and entertainment. The lintel pare above the doorway is considered the most important carving. It marks the passage from the domain of one god to that of another.

This Maori Pare is made of wood of openwork carving with central tiki and surrounding manaia figures of anthropomorphic figures. It originally grace the top of the doorway to a Maori Meeting House. Significant resources and mana were invested in increasingly elaborate meeting houses, which became a source of hapu or iwi pride and prestige.