I bought this Pounamu boulder from a woman in Greymouth who's in her 60s and had it for years. When her grandmother died, they found it in her shed, so it had been in the same family for three generations. Her grandparents had a gold prospecting license on a river around there, and used to carry the occasional other piece out. They must have got it when they were fairly young, as it weighs 51 kg and is VERY difficult to carry. For overseas people, pounamu is commonly referred to in New Zealand as greenstone, and is THE sacred stone to Maori. In fact, now Maori own all the pounamu left in the natural environment, and no one else is allowed to collect it. Because this was found and retrieved long before that law was passed, there are no probems with this piece though. It has been blessed by a local koumatua (elder).
This is a river stone, and, when it lies flat, you can see where a natural water course has been created in the stone over - who knows? Perhaps thousands of years. The water course actually forms a natural koru pattern, which you can see in the photo. The koru is a fern frond, meaning new life. I have certainly given this stone new life. I have polished it up (very sooth to the touch), and put it into a piece of totara, which is the main wood Maori use to do their carving. This totara was also naturally sculpted by a river, and looks itself a bit like a flowing river.
The stone does lie flat on the totara base, but both sides are so stunning, that all who see it agree it is best shown off by standing it on end.
The girl in the photo is my gorgeous mokopuna (grandaughter) Ashley-Rose Linda Etu Marama Cooper
It is for sale, so if you are interested, e-mail me at paddy.glyn@xnet.co.nz or phone me on +64 (06) 8366216
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