A RARE MAORI HEI TIKI GREEN NEPHRITE PENDANT

John James Hugh Henry Stewart-Murray, 7th Duke of Atholl KT (1840 –1917) travelled the world in 1883, visiting India, Celyon, Singapore, Saigon, China, Japan, Sandwich Isles (Hawaii) and then America and it is more than likely that this pendant was acquired then. Tiki were actually collected by Captain Cook's crew, but their popularity with the Maori as an ornament increased in the nineteenth century. These highly treasured personal ornaments, worn by women and men, were regarded as heirlooms to be passed from generation to generation. For further information, see christies.com.