A UNIQUE BEQUEST.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIX, Issue 10, 11 January 1918, Page 6

A UNIQUE BEQUEST.

TO DOMINION MUSEUM. (By Telegraph.— Special to "Star. ,- )' . WELLINGTON, this day. An interesting and nx many respects unique Iwquest has just reached the Dominion Museum. The collection, which is. a 'varied one, was bequeathed muler the will-of the !ate Mrs. E. H. Blair, of St. Mary's Tower.. Birnam, Scotland (formerly Mrs. Watt), in memory of her first husband. Mr. A. A. Watt, at one time of Huwke's Bay. The most valuable article in it is a masterpiece of inlaid woodwork. It is set down in the catalogue as an "inlaid wood cabinet," which certainly ;?ivrß very little indication of the unique nature of its value and bsauty. Designed for use n.n a wtiting +?.lilt> the cabinet in question Pt'iuds almost ">ft in height, the piiuii,)-. i wood employed being kauri, witli wiiich is combined pi'.riri and rewajtwn, and n.'vor was the beauty of Uμ* , Ac.v Zealand woods n-.ore effectively displayed. The' table itself is formed ot a beautiful slab of kauri, from which rises an elaborately inlaid threefold cabinet, in the ornamentation of which mot Hod kauri is contrasted with puriri with rich effect. On the centre paiu-l the figure of a moa statuesque beneath v giant tree rern occupies the foreground, while in the background is seen a narrow arm of a lake shut in by ranpes of r.-onntains. Jt is in working cut of those landscape panels that the artist has shown such consummate skill a;i.i ruch artistic feeling. By utilising the splendid or n's'ily polished kauri the eflect-of great cumulus clouds in the summer si y i- produced, and the wonderfully ren.iii'lic background provided ior the sl-.Mhil inlay of the moa iliiit ({ivnt fern with its drooping frouds in the foreground. The panels of the BiniiUor '.'oors of the tnrev'old cabinet are i-.ilnid with rt r-rt settntions of Maori figures, a man and ajvoraan respectively. Both are clothed in native garments, whose line "taniko" bonier is worked to minute mosaic incredibly fine, while the slight use of staining and incised lines gives softness and relief to the folds. No details of these pictures in woodcraft are forgotten, from the tattooed faces to the decorated fcargeboarde of the native dwellings. In the background above the panelled doors the cabinet is finished with carved ornament in high relief of flax leave's nnd fern fronds. In the centre of- this, within a 'deeplysunk oval, is the finely carved head of a Maori chief wrought in puriri wood, whose smooth olive brown contrasts most effectively with the dark, rich tone the stained kauri employed in the ioliage decorations. IJelow the smooth band of puriri which edges the elab of the writing table shows in lovely contrast. One of the most wonderful bits of handicraft on this triumph of craftsmanship is a broad band of golden rewarewa inlaid with minute blocks of puriri, thus forming a trellis pattern which runs the whole length of the table drawer. There are some fine examples of Maori art in the collection or weapons and ceremonial garments, which is included 'in the bequest of Mrs. Blair.