ESTIMATED at £50-100, this Maori flute sold for £140,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) at John Nicholson’s of Haslemere on February 23.
Putorino or ‘bugle flutes’ are unique to the Maori culture and most ceased to be used after contact with Europeans. Their exact ceremonial purpose is unknown but one theory is that they were played to announce the return of a chief to his village. The example in the British Museum, dated to the 18th century, was collected by the London Missionary Society.