Jade (greenstone) Carvings: custom traditional Maori and contemporary designs by New Zealand artists

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The rugged West Coast is the home of New Zealands sacred Pounamu (nephrite jade) where it is found as boulders in the high mountain streams.

These exclusive and rare carvings are one-off pieces by New Zealands top artists such as Peter Bishop, Luke Gardner, Ross Crump, Roger Cleghorn, Dean Hethrington and Dalzell. These often very reclusive artists from the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand produce some of the countries finest work with an unmistakable inner beauty and simple but stunning form and quality.

Hold a jade carving up to the light and you will truly be looking into another world. Hold it in your hand or against your skin and it will transform into a dark green sometimes almost black with subtle glimpses of its secret inner life appearing as it moves.

These pieces are a mixture traditional decorative styles along with some contemporary designs. Many are based on Maori legend while some are modern designs inspired by ancient Maori styles with flowing lines, scrolls and soft forms. Read about the meanings of Maori traditional designs

Some of these carvings are large at around 100mm long (4 inches) long while most average about 50mm (2 inches) in length or less.

New Zealand jade is nephrite jade which is often known as "Greenstone" or "Pounamu" in Maori and ranges in colour from a very pale green to a very dark almost black jade.

Please Note - Most examples on the jade pages show the carvings with back lighting to illustrate their luminosity.
This is how they look when held up to a light so they may appear a much darker shade of green when held in the hand or worn against the skin.