Artist unknown: A group of Māori at Wanganui, with Mount Ruapehu beyond

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.