Tohorā Kōuma in Golden Marsden Flower Jade

Take a good look at the photos of this taonga. You can see that lightly cameo’d into both sides is the tail of Tohorā. It’s a really gorgeous piece, if I do say so myself!

Tohorā and Pounamu have a long relationship.  They are actually cousins. You see Pounamu and Tohorā were all children of Tangaroa, flung into the skies of Ranginui to make te ika-o-te-rangi, the Milky Way.  The purākau of how they found their way down to earth are stories for another day, but suffice to say Pounamu and Tohorā have long been connected.  And you find them together again here in this taonga.

Tohorā are symbols of abundance as they provided the iwi with kai for eating, oil and leather for working and teeth for carving.

Pounamu was rather cheeky and proud, but also strong.

Te Kōuma is a breastplate or chest piece. Your kōuma (chest) was always heavily guarded in battle, thus kōuma taonga were designed to protect the chest, the seat of life.

So you can see, combining these elements gives you a taonga that represents strength, abundance and protection.  All in stunning Marsden Flower Jade. Who do you know that would love this taonga and could do with those characteristics in their life?

• Marsden  Flower Jade from Ta Tai Poutini
• 58mm and widest point. 43mm wide
• One of a kind Taonga By Timoti