Cloak (korowai)

In the 1850s and 1860s, Queen Victoria received a succession of Maori chiefs at her Isle of Wight residence, Osborne House. In her Journal for 15 July 1863 she described meeting '13 Chiefs and... 3 women', who wore 'silk petticoats with their strange cloaks of matting, & feathers in their hair. The men also had cloaks, some skins, thrown over them, carrying spears & hatchets, & feathers stuck in their hair'. During the visit, the delegation presented the queen with this tasselled cloak, known as a korowai. Cloaks of this kind were worn by the most prestigious individuals and might take several years to make. The tassels (hukahuka) are intended to rustle and sway as the wearer moves.