Close message
Back to search results
Embroidered picture of a huia, c1900

Image Embroidered picture of a huia, c1900

TLF ID R5937

This is an embroidered picture of a female huia bird ('Heteralocha acutirostris') on a branch taking nectar from the flowers of a rata (a native New Zealand tree). The dark-coloured bird has white-tipped tail feathers, and light orange wattles at the base of its beak. The work has a stylised Mäori design around the edges of the embroidery and a frame also carved with Mäori designs. It is made from coloured silks on linen and the frame is kauri (another native New Zealand tree). A small piece of paper attached to the lower right corner of the linen reads, 'This Bird Was Worked and the Frame Made and Carved, By an Old Crippled Mäori Named "Rungomai", At Tokomaru Bay - East Coast'. It was made around 1900 and measures 48 cm x 70 cm.

View resource


Educational details

Educational value
  • The embroidery was purchased in 1990 by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa as an unusual item from the early 20th century - the words 'East Coast' refer to a coastal region of the North Island of New Zealand.
  • The picture shows an extinct species of bird, about the size of a magpie, which was found only in the North Island of New Zealand - the huia was one of the most ancient New Zealand birds, and only the moa and kiwi are thought to be older; land clearing and the introduction of rats and dogs (natural predators to the huia) by both Europeans and Mäori and hunting of the birds for their feathers and beaks as personal adornments, led to a steep decline in the number of huia birds; the last sighting of the huia was in 1907, the date that is commonly accepted as the date of their extinction.
  • The huia is considered tapu (sacred) by Mäori - to wear a beak or feathers, especially the white-tipped tail feathers, of the huia as ornamentation was a great honour and one bestowed only on rangatira (chiefs).
  • The bird in the image is a female huia - the male huia had a markedly different beak style (short and stout as opposed to long, slender, and curved); no other bird is known to have such a marked distinction in beaks within its own species, the male used his bill to chisel into outer layers of decaying or live wood, the female used her bill to probe into areas inaccessible to the male to find insects and their larvae and spiders.
  • In the last two centuries more than 100 species of bird have disappeared from the Earth, having an impact on people, their communities and cultures - birds are important for seed dispersal, insect and rodent control, scavenging, and pollination; the disappearance of the huia means that for the Mäori they can no longer see their sacred bird and the chiefs can no longer wear the feathers as a sign of their status.
Topics Embroidery Birds

Other details

Contributors
  • Contributor
  • Name: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Organization: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Description: Content provider
  • Address: NEW ZEALAND
  • URL: http://www.tepapa.govt.nz
  • Name: Education Services Australia
  • Organization: Education Services Australia
  • Description: Data manager
  • Copyright Holder
  • Name: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Organization: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
  • Address: NEW ZEALAND
  • Publisher
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organization: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Description: Publisher
  • Address: VIC, AUSTRALIA
  • URL: http://www.esa.edu.au
  • Resource metadata contributed by
  • Name: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Organisation: Education Services Australia Ltd
  • Address: AUSTRALIA
  • URL: www.esa.edu.au
Access profile
  • Device independence
  • Hearing independence
Learning Resource Type
  • Image
Rights
  • © Education Services Australia Ltd and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2013, except where indicated under Acknowledgements