Context (Amendments / updates)
card notes that according to D. R. Simmons of the Auckland Museum, it is known as a " totere", which was manufactured with steel tools and came from nineteenth century Wanganui
Event Date 1978
Author: rachel hand

Context (CMS Context)
Exhibited: On display in the Maudslay Hall, CUMAA, from 1990- October 2017
Event Date 1990
Author: Remke Velden

Description (CMS Description)
Instrument, striker. Used for beating time to the chants sung during the progress of tattooing. According to D. R. Simmons of the Auckland Museum, it is known as a " totere", which was manufactured with steel tools and came from nineteenth century Wanganui
Event Date 2/7/1993
Author: Remke Velden

Context (Acquisition Details)
The register for E 1911.74-78 notes *Professor Bevan/ Hugel Collection/ See letter Book for details 1911 p. 74- 75'.
These were purchased from Baron von Hugel but it is unclear where he acquired them from (potentially at auctions/ sales or via his father Karl, who was in New Zealand in the 1830s).
Von Hugel's carbon copy letter book from 1911 seems to refer to money for buildings, though the handwriting is unclear. A letter book (with copies of the original letters) for 1911 has not been located.
Event Date 15/5/2015
Author: Remke Velden

Description (CMS Description)
Carved from maire, a hard wood, with pau shell on end of the striker. The striker also has a small tassel of harakeke attached to the base which is fragile and shedding fibre. Remains of black thread suggest an old repair to secure the flax.
The mouth (E 1911.78 A) is used as a resonator and the rod held against it, with the striker beating the rod. From notes by Alistair Fraser, a practice-based researcher of taongo puoro, 2015.5.15
Event Date 15/5/2015
Author: Remke Velden

Research Visit (Anthropology Documents)
RES.2018.2469 | Dr Irene Hundley is working on a research project titled ‘The origins and development of pre-European contact musical instruments in Aotearoa (New Zealand) and Rēkohu (Chatham Islands).’ This study, which is being funded by the Royal Society of New Zealand (UOO-1622), aims to discover how the first southern Polynesian colonists of New Zealand and the Chathams – and their descendants – adapted tropical musical instruments and traditions to the new resources of a large, cool-seasonal continental island group.
A key aspect of this mahi involves documenting the taonga pūoro held in museum collections around the world. The aim is to learn a lot about the instruments’ age and place of manufacture by examining their carving styles, manufacture techniques and materials, and (where available) provenance information.
Event Date 17/5/2018
Author: Remke Velden

Context (Production / use)
On May 30th 2018 Dr Irene Hundelby from the University of Otago examined this item. She explained that the beater and striker (E 1911.78 A-B) are played by holding the beater 'A' in the mouth while striking it with the striker 'B'.
Event Date 30/5/2018
Author: Remke Velden