The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Greenstone, a smooth, dark green rock, carved into a highly abstracted creature-like shape. The head, almost as big as the body, tilts to our left, with carved out circles as eyes, a diamond shape between them, and a beak-like mouth. The figure has a rectangular torso, legs spread out the the side, and arms curving down to merge by the hips. Where details have been carved out, the rock appears black.

Neck Pendant (Hei-tiki)

1800s

Pacific Islands, Polynesia, New Zealand, Māori people

Greenstone (pounamu) (nephrite?)
Overall: 16.9 x 10.2 cm (6 5/8 x 4 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. James B. Wadhams in memory of Miss Helen Humphreys 1969.107
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Hei-tiki may represent Hine-te-Iwaiwa, a legendary ancestress who is the exemplar of Māori womanhood.

Description

Among the Māori, leaders are hereditary and imbued with mana, power and prestige that can be embodied and passed down in the artworks associated with them. Hei-tiki are among these treasured, mana-charged heirlooms, which connect the living to ancestors of the islands’ pre-European past. They may represent Hine-te-Iwaiwa, a legendary ancestress who is the exemplar of Māori womanhood and the patron of childbirth.
  • Harry Beasley
    John Wise
    Harry Beasley; John Wise
  • Frost, Natasha. "He Calls the Tie a 'Colonia Noose.' Now Parliament Says It's No Longer Mandatory." The New York Times (February 10, 2021). www.nytimes.com
    Bergh, Susan E. “Things That Don’t Fit (Here).” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 1 (Winter 2021): 18. Reproduced and Mentioned: P. 18.
  • Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
    Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970).
  • {{cite web|title=Neck Pendant (Hei-tiki)|url=false|author=|year=1800s|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1969.107