Kendall, Thomas, 1778-1832 :Nuku Tawiti, a deity in the first state [1824]

Drawings of Maori carvings representing deities, with a key to the meaning of various sections of the image. 'A. Nuku Tawiti, a Deity in the first state. B, C. The dual rib close to his sides. D. Nuku's son. E. The spiritual waters. F. the appendages of creation - being the serpents eye, the serpent's tooth, and the serpents tail. H. The door of this world. G,G The two keepers or guardians'. The image is of a large central figure at the top, flanked by two smaller figures (the dual rib), with the figure of the son below, flanked by the 'appendages of creation' and below that an arched doorway flanked by two guardian figures.

Enclosed in a letter (now held by the Hocken Library) from Kendall to Josiah Pratt, CMS Secretary, 27 July 1824; see TLR v. 13 no. 1, pp 33-38. A copy of part of the letter (from Judith Binney's Legacy of Guilt ; a life of Thomas Kendall, facing p. 128 ff) is in the folder with the drawing. 'Rev'd and Dear Sir, In the month of April 1823 I informed you by letter, that with respect to the Supreme Deity, the Universe, Man and the whole Animal and Vegetable world, [...] the New Zealanders seem invariably to entertain the idea of Three States of Existence. Their opinions respecting these states are derived from the Language and from the Tradition which have been handed down to them by their Forefathers, according to their conception from the remotest antiquity to the present time, and in order that you may form a faint Idea of what these States are, it may not, perhaps, be altogether unacceptable to you briefly to notice them. The First State is a State of Union. The Second State is Equal and Dual. The Third State is Triune. The first State as it represents the Supreme Deity is a State of Union. It denotes the Union of the Deity under the Name or Title of the First and Last, or the Union of the Eternal Word of Wisdom and the Eternal Word of Life...

See also the article in the "New Zealand journal of history" vol 14, no. 1 (April 1980), pages 3-24.

Wrongly annotated in K A Webster's hand; "Wm. Williams 1825"

Other Titles - Nukutawhiti Nuku Tawhiti

Inscriptions: Verso - "Drawing of carved work emblematical of the superstitious notions of the New Zealanders"

Quantity: 1 drawing(s).

Physical Description: Pencil and ink on paper, 242 x 200 mm

Provenance: Previously part of the Church Missionary Society archives.