BRILLIANT NZ GREENSTONE JADE SHEPHERD'S DOG WHISTLE

BRILLIANT SHEPHERD'S DOG WHISTLE HAND CARVED FROM BEAUTIFUL NEW ZEALAND MAORI JADE POUNAMU GREENSTONE.  Completely one of a kind - carved from authentic leaf green highly translucent pounamu jade from the Marsden area of the Southern Alps of New Zealand. This jade has lovely rich green color - many New Zealand shepherds and dog handlers swear by these wonderful whistles that produce an excellent tone.  It measures  1.4" long by 1.8" wide at the base. It is suspended on an adjustable knot waxed cord and is a functional and beautiful pendant.  Comes with a certificate of authenticity and full instructions on how to use it.

The carvings I offer are priced incredibly reasonably for genuine artist carved NZ POUNAMU which will soon become impossible to obtain.  I AM A FAIR TRADE SELLER AND PAY MY CARVERS GOOD PRICES FOR THEIR EXCELLENT WORK,

Please note that the free airmail service I offer does not include insurance or tracking.  If you want these services please ask me - I can provide them at actual cost.  Once your item has been carefully wrapped, packaged, left my hands and is in the postal system I accept no responsibility for loss or delay. 

You are welcome at my auctions - please read my 100% feedback and know you are  buying ONE OF A KIND CARVINGS BY NATIVE NEW ZEALAND ARTISTS exactly as described and pictured. DON'T SETTLE FOR VERY  INFERIOR TOURIST MASS PRODUCED SOUVENIRS - many of the low priced so called "Maori" jade carvings you see on eBay at the moment are not carved in New Zealand and not New Zealand jade.

Pounamu is found only in the South Island. Because of this, the island was originally named Te Wāhi Pounamu (the place of pounamu), but over time this name changed to Te Wai Pounamu (the greenstone waters). No other jade should be classified as pounamu as it is a Maori name for the stone.

New Zealand gold

Māori valued pounamu in the same way Europeans valued gold. Around the 1870s, Te Otatu from Coromandel remarked: ‘Let the gold be worked by the white men. It was not a thing known to our ancestors. My only treasure is the pounamu.’ (Kati ano taku taonga nui i te pounamu.)¹

The main deposits used by Māori are in the districts around the Taramakau and Arahura rivers in Westland, coastal south Westland and the Lake Wakatipu area in Otago. In addition, there is a significant field of bowenite in Milford Sound (Piopiotahi).

Traditionally, the pounamu in the Arahura River has been most important for Poutini Ngāi Tahu (Ngāi Tahu people on the West Coast), with the junction of this river and Waitaiki (Olderog) Stream being particularly important.