First full account of Māori tools in over a century

Media release

Distinguished carver presents first full account of Māori tools in over a century

Launched in Rotorua on the weekend, Te Toki me te Whao is the first book by one of New Zealand’s most esteemed experts in woodcarving — and the first book dedicated to Māori tool technology since Elsdon Best’s Stone Implements of the Maori (1912).

Building on a lifetime of study and experience, master carver at the NZ Māori Arts and Crafts Institute Clive Fugill provides an historical record as well as a practical guide in the use of Māori tools and technology.

Supported by over 80 clear line drawings and a section of colour photos, the book imparts a wealth of information about the historical and contemporary manufacture and use of tools for a range of art forms and practical uses. It ranges from genealogies of ancestors important to the development of tools and explanations of how materials were located and quarries, through to practical outlines of how to use tools for making works in wood, stone, bone and pounamu.

Author Clive Fugill (Ngati Ranginui, Tainui) has been Master Carver at the NZ Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, Rotorua, for over 30 years. A graduate of the institute in 1969, he has taught most leading contemporary carvers and has himself carved and exhibited around New Zealand and the world. He acquired his first adze when he was nine, beginning a lifelong passion that finds expression in this, his first book.

Te Toki me te Whao: The story and use of Māori tools
By Clive Fugill
Published by Oratia Books
Paperback, $29.99

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