[Coates, Isaac] 1808-1878 :Rauparaha. Kafia Chief [1843?]

Head and shoulder portrait of Maori chief and warrior Te Rauparaha, in profile. He wears an albatross-feather ear adornment, a feather in his hair and a cloak.

The artist, Isaac Coates, had the opportunity to observe Te Rauparaha in Nelson in March 1843, when Rauparaha, Rangihaeata and their wives visited Nelson. A number of copies of this portrait were made, particularly after Te Rauparaha became notorious amongst Pakeha settlers after the Wairau Affray in June 1843. Coates left Nelson in 1845 and moved to Australia, so may have taken this version with him, although he appears to have made copies on demand and could have made this for somebody else, rather than himself. Some of the later copies are rather carelessly done, however, and this version appears to be an earlier and more accurate one, comparable in quality to the version in the Bett Collection, Nelson Provincial Museum. It gives a clear view of Te Rauparaha's aquiline nose and prominent upper lip, confirmed by contemporary descriptions.

The Library holds other versions of this portrait and there is a version, along with seventeen others by Coates, in the Peabody Museum, Salem, Massachussets. See also "The enigma of the Nelson Maori portraits" by Marian Minson, in "Turnbull Library Record", Vol 23, no. 1, May 1990, p 47-67, especially p. 55 & 56. This version may be the original for awood engraving in the Illustrated London News of 29 June 1844 p 412, since the title is the same.

Other Titles - Kawhia

Inscriptions: Recto - beneath image - title in ink, probably in the hand of the artist.

Quantity: 1 watercolour(s).

Physical Description: Watercolour on paper 277 x 185 mm