The Great New Zealand Kauri and Kauri
amber custom designs
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Most is 30,000 to 40,000 years old while
some can be millions of years old so Kauri amber is a very rare
treasure with an unbelievable aura.
Floating within its golden or clear
form are small pieces of ancient plants and sometimes even insects
from the ancient forest floor, long before the time of man.
New Zealand Amber (Kauri gum)
which is now becoming very rare is found only in the upper North
Island of New Zealand and nowhere else in the world. We deal
with baltic amber (or copal).
Amber, or Kauri gum
as it is known locally is a resin which bleeds from the mighty
Kauri tree (Agathis Australias) to seal a wound when a branch
is damaged or broken. As the tree sheds its bark these lumps
of hardened resin fall to the ground and become buried under
hundreds of years of forest litter where they continue to hardened
and develop their wonderful colouring.
It was extensively dug by both the indigenous
Maori and European settlers in the early 1900's for use in the
production of high quality varnishes and other flooring materials
and in many respects its high value made these "Gum Digs"
the equivalent of the early gold rushes in other parts of the
country.
At the same time the Kauri
itself was being felled and milled in vast quantities for its
huge logs (often weighing hundreds of tons each) and the quality
of its richly coloured and easily work timber. The Kauri
is now protected and treasured as part of New Zealands heritage.
Many young Kauri are now being planted around
the country but they are very slow growing taking around 2000
years to reach full size and the Amber they produce requires
many hundreds if not thousands of years to form.
The only amber to be found now is what was overlooked
in the early days of "Gum Digging" so it is quickly
becoming a very rare and valuable "gift from the gods"
»»
more about Boneart carvings in our store
»»
more about the meanings of the traditional Maori designs
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