This nephrite hei-tiki was given to Captain James Cook by Maori at Queen Charlotte Sound in South Island in 1769 during his first voyage to the Pacific. Now housed in the British Museum [1478×2000]
by Remote_Finish_9429
This nephrite hei-tiki was given to Captain James Cook by Maori at Queen Charlotte Sound in South Island in 1769 during his first voyage to the Pacific. Now housed in the British Museum [1478×2000]
by Remote_Finish_9429
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On Cook’s return in 1771, he was granted a one-hour audience with George III, who had personally sponsored the expedition. It was probably at this meeting that Cook presented the King with this ornament. Although their origin is unclear, hei-tiki have variously been understood as fertility symbols, representations of the human embryo and spirit figures. Among Maori they are exchanged as gifts and inherited by successive generations, giving them status as ancestral treasures (taonga). [Source](https://www.rct.uk/collection/69263/hei-tiki)
Why was he only given a hour with the king?
If there’s one thing the Brady Bunch taught me, it’s how to recognize a cursed idol.