A W [artist's initials] :Picton N Z [1870s or 1880s]

Shows wooden three-storied house (if an attic window is included), painted yellow, with a fenced-in garden and a flagpole on the left, two women with long dark dresses and headscarves chatting on the road outside the fence, by the flagpole with the Union Jack flying. On the right is a rough fence with deciduous trees and there are further houses on the slope leading down to the harbour in the background. The scene is in the flatter part of the town that is some distance back from the waterfront.

Picton had buildings of this size as early as the later 1860s, although the number of houses shown and the style of the womens' clothes suggest a later date of the 1880s or 1890s. Photographs in Pictorial Reference Service checked, along with the images reproduced in Henry D. Kelly's book 'As high as the hills ; the centennial history of Picton' (Whatamongo Bay, 1976), but no clue to the identity of the house has been found.

Identity of the artist not known. The Library has a black and white photograph of a watercolour of "Wainui House, Nile Street, Nelson" (neg 47028 1/2) signed AW and dated 1893, location of original unknown, which could possibly be the work of the same artist, although the form of the monogram is different. The artist's style is competent and suggests some training.

Inscriptions: Recto - bottom left - Picton. N.Z.; Recto - bottom right - AW

Quantity: 1 watercolour(s).

Physical Description: Pencil, watercolour and gum arabic 227 x 336 mm