Te ainoko

Te ainoko. Covered basket. This is a lided basket. It is rectangular in form. It is made of four material components: te ira (pandanus leaf), te kora (coconut sennit cordage), te noko (coconut midrib) and te bura (monetaria annulus; cowrie shell) with the additional use of an off-white string. Te noko makes up the structural walls that provide the rectangular form of te nokonoko. Strips of te ira has been woven across the noko to create coverage. Te bura shells have an off-white string threaded through the cavity of the shell. These have then been stitched onto the rim of the opening to create a decorative border. The longest sides of the opening that run parallel to each other feature a plaited handle of te ira on each side. Then above the border of te bura, a long folded strip of baan ta kaina has been lashed down through a blanket stitch of te kora. The same finish has been applied to the edge of the lid where a segment of it has come undone. There are two fastenings featured on the corners of the lid. These are in the form of a single te bura, one is loose. Then two loops of te kora have been attached to the side of te noko which would be used to fasten the lid closed. Te noko and te ira are of a pale yellow colour, the series of te bura are polished and off-white in colour with some varied tones of grey.