125 FIG. 17: Seated fi gure, in the Maori style, attributed to Edward Little but more likely by James Robieson. England or New Zealand. Early 20th century. Wood, shell. H: 28 cm. British Museum, Oc1927,0107.1. Donated by Miss Hurst, 1927. © The Trustees of the British Museum. FIG. 18: Seated fi gure, in the Maori style, attributed to Edward Little. England. Early 20th century. Wood, shell. H: 31.5 cm. W. H. Skinner Collection, Puke Ariki Museum, New Plymouth, A94.703. and he sold his ‘artefacts’ in the salesrooms. I never met him and know not whether he be alive now or not.”16 Robieson also carved in bone as did Little, according to Fuller, but despite these two known hands, the identity of the author or authors of certain bone hei tiki is still contentious.17 While Little may have distributed false material by other carvers, perhaps because he had a reputation for being able to move such objects and/or perhaps because he would have been hard-pressed to create the volume of material he is claimed to have sold, we have no specifi c information on this subject, so any discussion is speculative. Other “Maori” pieces decorated with the distinctive relief-carved scrollwork associated with Little’s hand— what has been dubbed the “Little spiral”—appear with some frequency. These include the “Lilly” spoon in Wellington, 18 as well as a feeding funnel that has become part of the Maori heritage, since at the time it was to be
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