Heaphy, Charles 1820-1881 :View of the Kahu-Kahu Hokianga River [December] 1839

Shows G. F. Russell's house and timber yard at Kohukohu, Hokianga Harbour, with a ship and a barque, the Francis Spaight (nearer vessel) and the Bolina (on the left) loading kauri spars; and a row-boat hauling spars. On the hill behind is dense native forest.

For many years, this watercolour was thought to show Horeke with Lieutenant Thomas McDonnell's house. However Maureen Lander's "Turnbull Library Record" article cited below proves that the image is of Kohukohu and of G. F. Russell's house.

See Turnbull Library Record vol.22. no.1, May 1989, p.33-40 for an article by Maureen Lander establishing that this view is of Kohukohu and is accurate in its details. The view dates from a trip Heaphy made with other New Zealand Company employees in December 1839, looking for appropriate areas to establish cities. The New Zealand Company's vessel the "Tory", with the artist on board, was in the Hokianga Harbour between 2 and 16 December.

See also the article by Brian Byrne in "Turnbull Library record" 1997, pages 73-76, identifying the "Francis Spaight" and the "Bolina", with evidence.

Exhibited in 'Two centuries of New Zealand landscape art' Exhibition at Auckland City Art Gallery, 2 February - 22 April 1990.

Exhibited: Early watercolours of New Zealand, Auckland City Art Gallery, September 1963. Two centuries of New Zealand landscape art, Auckland City Art Gallery, 2 February to 22 April 1990; Treasures in Trust, National Library Gallery, 17 August to 2 November 1995 and Auckland City Art Gallery, 11 November 1996 to 9 February 1997.

Exhibited in 'Treasures in Trust' exhibition to celebrate 75th anniversary of the Alexander Turnbull Library in 1995.

Other Titles - Kohukohu, Northland

Inscriptions: Recto - beneath image - title & signature

Quantity: 1 watercolour(s).

Physical Description: Watercolour, 308 x 429 mm (image), 327 x 450 mm (ruled line) on sheet 409 x 516 mm Dimensions: painted surface, surrounded by a single ruled ink line is 308 x 429 mm; outside the painted surface is a space, including the artist's signature lower right, then a double ruled line at 327 x 450 mm; the whole sheet, including the artist's handwritten title below measures 409 x 516 mm

Provenance: Purchased by Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull from Francis Edwards, London, 1915, as part of the New Zealand Company papers, London. Item number 16 in the New Zealand Company's list of paintings and drawings received