Maori Treasure in Ireland

The extensive Maori art collection – part of a larger ethnological collection of exotic Pacific art – at Dublin’s National Museum includes, the Meyler collection, pieces Captain James Cook acquired on his voyages and items donated by Irishmen who were involved in the Maori Wars. One of those soldiers was Captain Meyler, who donated a “particularly attractive” greenstone tiki and a rare whalebone weapon. Irish Arts also describes a “small carved feather box covered with spiralling patterns and a pair of heads linked together by a protruding tongue … an exquisite example of Maori technical craftsmanship.” Other artefacts in the collection range from canoe prow ornaments and utilitarian paddles to basalt and greenstone adze used for tree felling and carving out canoes.