Places

Date: 1845 - 1849

By: Williams, John, -1905?

Reference: A-079-015

Description: The elaborately carved stern of a large waka, hauled up on a beach with cliffs behind to the left. In front of the canoe sits a Maori man in front of a small fire. He holds a pipe in his left hand and is draped in a blanket or woven flax garment. He has short hair and full facial moko. A gourd sits on the ground on the far side of the fire, and behind the man is a large pile of flax kete, with a cloak draped across the top The same canoe stern, but reversed, appears as part of an illustration to A. S. Thomson's 'The story of New Zealand' (London, 1859), Vol. 2 p.102 'Kororareka in 1849 from a sketch by Colonel Bridge' The basis for a wood engraving in the Illustrated London news, 4 Oct 1851, p. 404, engraved by O. W. Brierly 'Maori chief and carved stern of a New Zealand canoe'. The background cliffs have been changed, as has the position of the Maori man, but the canoe details are identical Inscriptions: Recto - bottom left - title in ink Quantity: 1 watercolour(s). Physical Description: Sepia ink and wash, 367 x 253 mm Transfers: Removed from the Bridge / Williams sketchbook (E-320-f possibly from page 15). The paper is similar to other drawings by Williams taken from this sketchbook, and the appearance of its left margin suggests it has been removed from a bound volume. In addition, the original binding of the album (located in a folder in box A-079) shows an offset image of this view on one page..

Date: 1850 - 1852

By: Oliver, Richard Aldworth, 1811-1889

Reference: B-189-013

Description: Shows three women, two of them older and sitting on the ground in front of a hut. One smokes a pipe. The third, a younger woman, is standing between them. She wears a blue and white-striped top (possibly a sailor's clothing), and is wrapped in a red blanket. She also wears a knotted scarf around her neck, and a garland of flowers around her head. All three women have facial moko. On the ground in front of them lie a gourd, kete, an axe and a tewhatewha. The scene is possibly set in the Hauraki district Possibly the same woman who appears in Oliver's 'Inside the stockade with natives outside', ca 1850, and who wears virtally the same attire of striped shirt, red blanket and knotted scarf (B-089-001). This in turn was used as the basis for 'Stranger's house (Houraki Pah)', Plate 5 in R A Oliver's 'A series of lithographic drawings from sketches in New Zealand' (London, Dickinson Bros, 1852) (C-054-008) Other Titles - Red blanket (translation) Other Titles - Iahwera (transcribed misspelling) Inscriptions: Recto - bottom centre - Iahwera [in faint pencil - misspelt]; Recto - bottom left - Mary[?] [in faint pencil] Quantity: 1 watercolour(s). Physical Description: Watercolour and pencil on paper, 360 x 255 mm, in gate-fold mat 580 x 435 mm

Date: [ca 1860]

By: Barraud, Charles Decimus, 1822-1897; Trafford, Benjamin William Rawson, 1824?-1891

Reference: D-040-003

Description: Shows a scene on the Whanganui River. Shakespeare Cliff is prominent on the right, and Mount Ruapehu is visible in the distance. The Wanganui settlement is nestled into the hills in the middle ground, and the Rutland and York stockades are visible on the hill above the town. In the foreground is a group of Māori, comprising six adults or young adults, and one child, who would appear to be Pākehā. They are grouped as half standing, half being seated. There is much evidence of European clothing being worn by almost all the figures, with a woman on the right in full European dress complete with hat. The child in the group stands close to her and is possibly her own child, though his complexion is pale. The Māori man on the left has full facial tā moko, and holds the reins of a horse, which stands grazing. The horse would appear to belong to the woman in European dress, as it carries a side-saddle. The other man in the scene is dressed wearing a blanket and bare feet, and holds a kete, staff and eeling pot. Beyond the group can be seen the pallisades of Putiki Pā, beside which graze a half a dozen cattle. A number of vessels can be seen on the river, including a schooner and a double-sailed waka. The artist of this work is uncertain, after close comparison against works by other artists including John Alexander Gilfillan, Richard Aldworth Oliver, and Charles Decimus Barraud was undertaken. Benjamin Rawson Trafford has also been suggested as the artist, but no other work in watercolours by him is known for stylistic comparison. He was in Wanganui between ca 1847 and 1863 and had a Māori wife and child, possibly the subjects of this watercolour. He may also have been the earliest owner of the work and was the step-ancestor of the English vendor Other Titles - Whanganui. Benjamin William Rawson Trafford Quantity: 1 watercolour(s). Physical Description: Watercolour, pencil and Chinese white on paper, 482 x 713 mm Provenance: Prior to auction, in a private collection, England by descent from a step-ancestor, Benjamin Rawson Trafford, an early settler in Whanganui, to Lady Rosalind Bodington Processing information: Description updated 26 September 2023 following information provided by a staff member, as part of reparative description work.

Date: [ca 1927]-[ca 1943]

From: AFCM :Six albums containing newspaper and magazine clippings, and some original photographs

By: Ryan, Thomas, 1864-1927; Goldie, Charles Frederick, 1870-1947

Reference: PA1-f-124

Description: Album of newspaper and magazine cuttings, photographs, and prints of paintings in colour and black & white, mostly of Maori subjects, with some images of geographically interesting sites in New Zealand, including Mount Tongariro, Lake Waikaremoana, and the Waimangu Crater. The Maori material includes prints of paintings by Goldie, and prints of paintings of Maori by T. Ryan, some of which are copies of works by Goldie. There is a print of a painting by T. Ryan, showing Tomika Te Mutu, painting done from an original sketch by Horatio Gordon Robley. There are many publicity photographs of Maori, showing clothing, particularly cloaks, and showing various activities in Maori pa, including weaving, firelighting, poi dances, and waka poi. Also includes images of Maori waka on the Waikato River; 2 pages of Maori rock carvings, found in a cave shelter on the Kaingaroa Plains in 1926, and one on Maori god-sticks (Pou whakapakoko).

Date: 1921

From: McDonald, James Ingram, 1865-1935 :Photographs

Reference: PA1-q-257

Description: Album of photographs taken 1921 by James Ingram McDonald while on an ethnographic expedition up the Whanganui River. The expedition was undertaken by McDonald, Elsdon Best, Peter Buck, and Johannes Carl Andersen, under the auspices of the Dominion Museum. There are many views of the Whanganui River and villages, including numbers of waka at Koriniti, and views of eel traps across the river. Very detailed sequences of photographs show flax weaving, coarser weave for kete and eel traps, and finer quality for clothing and ceremonial mats. The captions appear to have been added later, in pencil, with some names being unclear. Many of the photographs have copy negatives, some are 1/4 and some 1/2. Other Titles - Wanganui River Expedition 1921 Quantity: 1 album(s) Album(s). Physical Description: Album with blue cloth cover, black leather spine and corners, entitled "Photographs. Wanganui River Expedition 1921" on paper label attached to spine; brown paper pages with silver gelatin prints, all approx 10 x 15 cm, affixed; 35.0 x 22.5 cm