Hei Matau Flower Pounamu Sculpture

A hei matau carved in flower pounamu, standing on a polished slab of raw pounamu. The hook shifts from deep green into the olive-gold mottling that gives flower jade its name. The base is left largely as found, polished on one face, natural on the rest, showing the stone as it comes from the river.

Carved in Arrowtown by master carver Lee-Roy Mullings (Ngāti Kahungunu). The hei matau represents strength, prosperity and safe passage over water. As a sculpture it carries that story into the room, a piece to sit on a desk, shelf or mantel, where the meaning stays in view.