[Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera, Waikato, by an unknown Maori artist. Between 1860 and 1890?]

Date
1860 - 1900
By
Mair, Gilbert, 1843-1923; Turnbull, Alexander Horsburgh, 1868-1918
Reference
A-081-001/006
Description

Sketches depicting incidents arising out of a taua or raiding party visiting Parawera settlement to exact revenge after a case of adultery. The marae, various groupings of iwi, dances, fights, haka, horseriding, and competitions are depicted, along with a visit from the police. The Parawera group were Ngati Apakura, Te Wherowhero's iwi, and the visitors in search of payment were Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Hourua and Ngati Koroki. Ngati Haua are also mentioned in one sketch.

Quantity: 6 drawing(s).

Physical Description: Pencil on paper ca 230 x 320 mm

Provenance: Given to Alexander Turnbull in 1913 by Gilbert Mair. See covering letter of 17 November 1913 in MS 57, Folder 64. A typescript copy is held with the drawings in Box A-081. Mair ironically compares the artist to the French portraitist of Napoleon, Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier

Additional description

Originals available to view at discretion of the Curator. Digital surrogates available on child records.

Alternative form available: Black and white copies of each work available. See individual records for details.

Access restrictions
Partly restricted material
Format
6 drawing(s), Works of art, Pencil works, Pencil on paper ca 230 x 320 mm
There are 6 items in total.
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Copyright

Unknown
There are 6 items in this group.
Online Image

[Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera; the marauding party being gree...

From: [Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera, Waikato, by an unknown Maori artist. Between 1860 and 1890?]

Reference: A-081-001

Description: A group on the left indicated as N[gati] Koraki with several figures dancing away from the group; another group in the middle group marked as Parawera (the host iwi) in front of a wharenui and other buildings. Trees and hills in the background. Inscriptions: Recto - [names of the two tribes, probably in the hand of Gilbert Mair] Physical Description: Pencil on paper 230 x 330 mm

Online Image

[Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera; a general mixup. Between 1860 ...

From: [Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera, Waikato, by an unknown Maori artist. Between 1860 and 1890?]

Reference: A-081-006

Description: A policeman grabbing the leg of a man on horseback, while three other men leap around the horse and rider and four men run towards the group. A second horse and rider on the far right. Gilbert Mair describes this scene as "A general mix-up, the policeman arresting the horse or its rider. The artist has not made it clear which." Inscriptions: Recto - [names of] N[gati] Hourua m. N[gati] Haua [either in the hand of the artist or of Gilbert Mair] Physical Description: Pencil on paper 244 x 311 mm (irregular)

Online Image

[Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera; the co-respondents. Confronted...

From: [Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera, Waikato, by an unknown Maori artist. Between 1860 and 1890?]

Reference: A-081-004

Description: Spectators from Ngati Haua and Parawera seated in a "U" shaped formation while members of Ngati Koroki dance in the centre. The wharenui, flagpole, fenced gardens and a horse are in the background. Several individuals are seated or standing to the left. Inscriptions: Recto - [names of the three tribes, either in the hand of the artist or of Gilbert Mair. Also on the far right] N M 1 M 2 Physical Description: Pencil on paper 234 x 325 mm (irregular)

Online Image

[Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera; The rival tribes outvying one ...

From: [Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera, Waikato, by an unknown Maori artist. Between 1860 and 1890?]

Reference: A-081-002

Description: A cooking area to the left with a series of hangi and logs of wood, an above-ground cooking fire and a large building, presumably the whare kai (cooking and eating house). In the centre, a group of Ngati Koroki on the left facing a group of Parawera Maori, all dancing. Two further houses and a flag on a flagpole in the background with hills in the distance. Exhibited in "Treasures in Trust", National Library Gallery, 1995 Inscriptions: Recto - [names of the two tribes, either in the hand of the artist or of Gilbert Mair] Physical Description: Pencil on paper 233 x 325 mm (irregular)

Online Image

[Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera; Appearance of a member of the ...

From: [Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera, Waikato, by an unknown Maori artist. Between 1860 and 1890?]

Reference: A-081-005

Description: Gilbert Mair describes the scene thus: "While the co-respondent defies the visitors from the rear, his tribe produce certain horses in payment for his sin, which are about to be handed over as part payment, when unfortunately a Member of the [Police] Force appears and demonstrates that one at least of the horses proposed to be given as payment, has been stolen." The policeman is standing on the left, two horses are being ridden at speed towards a central group, another group is seated in front of the wharenui and the co-respondent may be the figure at the rear who appears to be leaping in the air. Physical Description: Pencil on paper 233 x 315 mm (irregular)

Image

[Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera; arrival of Ngatiraukawa, prepa...

From: [Artist unknown] :[Sketches of a Maori muru at Parawera, Waikato, by an unknown Maori artist. Between 1860 and 1890?]

Reference: A-081-003

Description: A fire and a man chopping firewood in the centre foreground, with a house, two wheeled carts, two dogs and seated groups. Ngati Raukawa seated in a large group in the centre facing the marae and the Parawera people, with Ngati Haua seated on the right. A horse and flagpole with two flags to the left, the wharenui, fenced gardens and hills in the background. Inscriptions: Recto - [names of the three tribes, either in the hand of the artist or of Gilbert Mair] Physical Description: Pencil on paper 234 x 324 mm (irregular)