Uhikana (headdress)

Headdresses were prestige items worn by hakaìki (chiefs) to affirm their power and divine lineage. The contrast of luminous white pearl shell against tawny brown turtle shell on this work alludes to the complementary realms of light and dark. The plaques on either side of the central pearl shell disk, with its wheel of six tiki, are carved with the ipu motif—a potent symbol referencing a vessel (or womb) that holds the creative energies and cosmic order of the universe.