Richard Nunns playing the pūtōrino

Dr Richard Nunns QSM

An exquisitely diminutive, carved pūtōrino (bugle flute) on display in the Nelson Provincial Museum Pupuri Taonga o Te Tai Ao, was brought to life recently by master pūoro authority and instrumentalist, Dr Richard Nunns QSM.

The pūtōrino is part of a large collection of Māori and Pacific items that were purchased by the New Zealand Government in 1948 from William Ockelford Oldman (1879-1949), an English art and ethnographic collector and dealer. This collection was distributed amongst New Zealand's museums, where they remain on long term loan from Te Papa. The pūtōrino, registration number Oldman 32, was sent to the Nelson Provincial museum shortly after the collections acquisition in 1948.

Te Papa is starting to document Richard talking about his extensive personal collection of taonga pūoro. The opportunity for Richard to examine this unique pūtōrino in the museum was too much to miss. Whether this taonga still retained its 'voice'-or sound, after more than half a century of silent museum life, was a moment of great anticipation...

Pūtōrino details:

Museum registration number-Oldman 32
Length-275mm
Width-30mm
Depth-25mm
Iwi affiliations currently unknown

Te Papa thanks the Nelson Provincial Museum, Board of Trustees and Iwi Komiti; in particular Peter Millward and Paula Haines-Bellamy. Thank you to Dr Richard Nunns QSM and Rachel Bush
Photography and film-Norman Heke
Interviewer-Awhina Tamarapa

Te Papa website - https://www.tepapa.govt.nz
Te Papa collections - http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/
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