puutoorino

Trumpet (or flute - putorino) of naturally coloured tan wood (matai), straight, of sub-circular cross-section, narrowing towards proximal end and more markedly so towards distal end, formed of two closely fitting longitudinal parts, bound tightly together with five sections (of varied width) of lashing made of fine plaited cord of brown synthetic (?) fibre, ornamented with carving: at distal end two stylized human faces in low relief, back to back and sharing one pair of eyes; in middle high-relief human face, its figure-of-eight mouth forming central sound hole; near proximal end large high-relief standing male figure, its arms raised and its very large hands meeting at back of trumpet. Both high-relief figures have haliotis-shell inlaid eyes and curvilinear surface ornamentation; male figure has small brown-and-white feather inserted through its nostrils.