Paddle

A hoe (canoe paddle) with a carved blade and a curved shaft. There are two humanoid figures on the front of the blade, a smaller one and a larger, and koru (bulbed hook shapes) on the back. The larger figure has a three-fingered right hand held up by its shoulder, and its left hand on its stomach. The heads of the figures have slightly beaked mouths with large cheeks and protruding pointed tongues with rectangular teeth. They have round eyes with no central pegs, and the smaller figure's eyes are shell-inlaid. The main surface patterns are rauponga (several parallel ridges and grooves with a notched ridge in between), and double spirals on the larger figure's left shoulder and towards the tip of the blade. The koru on the back of the blade have very fine, slightly curved grooves between them. The shaft also has rauponga arranged diagonally and some lengthways. The shell inlay is missing from the eyes of the lower figure.