Wahine Statue; McDonald, James Ingram; 1906; 022-2010-030-0001
FromWaimate Museum
Name/Title
Wahine Statue
Wahine Statue
About this object
This statue is of a Wahine (Maori Woman) carrying a baby in a pikau (woven flax backpack) and draped in a korowai (long feather cloak).
Caste in plaster of paris, which has been bronzed, the statue stands on a concrete plinth.
The wahine is one of a group of six figures, made by James Ingram McDonald whilst working for the New Zealand Tourist Department. The figures were made specifically for the New Zealand International Exhibition, held in Christchurch, 1906 – 1907, where they stood in the exhibition's main corridor.
The figures portrayed a “romanticised version of ancient Maori life” (Kernot, B.) the other five figures in the group were a man standing, a woman seated, a boy playing a putorino (flute), a carver at work and a girl making a poi.
At the conclusion of the exhibition the group was acquired by Mr William Quinn, who owned the Makikihi Brickworks and built Quinn’s Arcade in Waimate. The statues were stored on his farm for 60 years. When the farm changed hands, the wahine statue was the only salvageable figure. She was sold at auction to Mr M J Meehan, who donated her to the Waimate Historical Society in September 1967. The museum renovated the statue and she was formally unveiled at the museum by the Director of Canterbury museum on 24th October 1967. Today she stands in the foyer of Waimate Museum.
See also photograph 014-2002-1026-01821
This statue is of a Wahine (Maori Woman) carrying a baby in a pikau (woven flax backpack) and draped in a korowai (long feather cloak).
Caste in plaster of paris, which has been bronzed, the statue stands on a concrete plinth.
The wahine is one of a group of six figures, made by James Ingram McDonald whilst working for the New Zealand Tourist Department. The figures were made specifically for the New Zealand International Exhibition, held in Christchurch, 1906 – 1907, where they stood in the exhibition's main corridor.
The figures portrayed a “romanticised version of ancient Maori life” (Kernot, B.) the other five figures in the group were a man standing, a woman seated, a boy playing a putorino (flute), a carver at work and a girl making a poi.
At the conclusion of the exhibition the group was acquired by Mr William Quinn, who owned the Makikihi Brickworks and built Quinn’s Arcade in Waimate. The statues were stored on his farm for 60 years. When the farm changed hands, the wahine statue was the only salvageable figure. She was sold at auction to Mr M J Meehan, who donated her to the Waimate Historical Society in September 1967. The museum renovated the statue and she was formally unveiled at the museum by the Director of Canterbury museum on 24th October 1967. Today she stands in the foyer of Waimate Museum.
See also photograph 014-2002-1026-01821
Maker Role
Sculptor
Sculptor
Date Made
1906
1906
Medium and Materials
Carrara plaster
Bronzed
Carrara plaster
Bronzed
Measurements
Height: 2330mm Width: 840mm
Height: 2330mm Width: 840mm
Subject and Association Keywords
Maori
McDonald, James Ingram
Meehan, M.J.
Quinn, William
Statue
Wahine
Maori
McDonald, James Ingram
Meehan, M.J.
Quinn, William
Statue
Wahine
Collection
Maori: Taonga Collection
Maori: Taonga Collection
Object number
022-2010-030-0001
022-2010-030-0001
Tags
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