Featured Maori Box

Here's a Maori Pencil Box i found at the Thrift for $3.Obviously a tourist/utilitarian student piece,hand carved though.9"L,3 5/8"W,11/16"D.There's a little paper tag in one of the compartment w/ a very faint watermark-just can't get a pic of.
PS-I'd certainly think 20th Century from the interior routing,but am no expert on Maori carving/woodworking.

 

Very nice, bosko. Looking at the engraving, which isn't very deep, the red sealing wax, and the wear and aging of the wood, I think early 20th century.

 

AJ-Red sealing wax,fascinating ! I wondered what that strange pigment was-artists will use whatever pigment they have on hand.It goes to show-Don't overclean your items before sharing & attempt the sharpest pics possible.
Thanks as always AJ for sharing your wisdom with us here-priceless.
PS-Here's a couple mediocre pics of the piece of paper stuck in one of the box's compartments-watermark,maker's tag ? Poss 'BBN','BDN',

 

High marks for effort, bosko...good work!

 

When the Maori came across red sealing wax in the 19th century, they decided it was perfect for accentuating the big round eyes on 'pounamu hei-tiki', the beautiful jade tiki pendants they wear.
As far as I know, adding sealing wax to souvenir boxes was only done in the first half of the 20th century. It looks very nice, in a quirky way.

I have no idea, but it may not have been original to the box.

 

The red actually does work on those wild Maori faces.Thanks Whit-did my best w/ a blinding desk lamp & shaky hand-held phone.

 

Sweet piece My only expertise in this is that I'm from NZ, this is an adaptation for modern usage of the form of a feather box ('Papa hou' in Maori) in a low rectangular Northland Maori style, which also fits with the carving style. Looks like it is meant as a pencil case? Definitely 20th century but I would say 1940s-60s due to the limited availability of machine routers prior to that time in NZ. Complete speculation, but it might have been brought back by a US serviceman perhaps? There were many US soldiers in NZ from the wars in the Pacific. Tourists in the USA would have been quite rare at that time! Hope this helps

 

Thanks for the insight Kylie.