Catalog Archive
Auction 150, Lot 716

"Kororarika Beach, Bay of Islands",

Subject: Russell, New Zealand

Period: 1853 (circa)

Publication: Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion

Color: Black & White

Size:
10 x 14.8 inches
25.4 x 37.6 cm
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This lovely view of present-day Russell, New Zealand comes from Frederick Gleason's periodical Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion. Russell, then called Kororarika (which translates to "How sweet is the penguin"), was the first permanent European settlement and port in New Zealand. The engraving depicts the lovely beach from the vantage of a hill, with a settlement below, a couple Maoris in the near distance, and several vessels in the water. Beneath this scene are two additional engravings showing Maoris in traditional dress and with their identifying face markings (ta moko). Text between these engravings describes the difficulty of converting the Maoris to Christianity given that the supposedly civilizing foreigners in the region tended to be immoral themselves.

References:

Condition: A

There is minor show-through of text on verso and faint toning confined to the blank margin.

Estimate: $70 - $90

Sold for: $50

Closed on 9/17/2014

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