A distinctive New Zealand design remembering one of Aotearoa's most treasured native birds.

This handcrafted porcelain wall piece features a pair of huia feathers, with their characteristic white tips picked out against the rich red of the feather design. Simple and striking against the glossy white porcelain, the two feathers create a piece with a particularly New Zealand story behind it.

The huia was a remarkable bird found only in New Zealand's North Island and is now extinct. In te ao Māori, huia feathers were highly prized and associated with rank, prestige and rangatiratanga. They were treasured possessions, exchanged as important gifts and carefully kept in containers such as waka huia. Their significance, together with the loss of the bird itself, gives the image of the huia feather a special place in New Zealand's history. Te Papa Collections

We make each piece here in Hawke's Bay using our own porcelain clay recipe, blended with New Zealand kaolin. After glazing, the huia feather artwork is applied using ceramic transfers made from our original designs. These aren't commercially available transfers - they're produced especially for our artwork - before the piece is fired again to permanently fuse the decoration to the glaze.

At approximately 10 cm high x 10 cm wide, it's a compact piece of New Zealand wall art that can be displayed on its own or alongside other pieces from our Land and Sea Collection.

Each porcelain stone is handmade and individually trimmed, so its shape will vary slightly from piece to piece. A wire loop is permanently embedded into the back of the porcelain, ready for hanging.

Details

Handcrafted porcelain wall art
Huia feather design
White glazed porcelain with red decoration
Original ceramic transfers, produced especially for our designs
Approximately 10 cm high x 10 cm wide
Individually trimmed, so shape will vary slightly
Embedded wire loop for hanging
Handmade in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand

Handcrafted by Bright Side Ceramics in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand.

About this design: This huia feather design is an original JS Ceramics design by Jen in Te Puke. After Jen stepped away from ceramics, Bright Side Ceramics, our ceramics brand here at Dee's Bees, acquired the collection so these distinctive New Zealand designs could continue to be made. Today we handcraft it in Hawke's Bay as part of our Land and Sea Collection.

New Zealand Bird Ceramics