PRINCESS MARY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 21 September 1923, Page 3

PRINCESS MARY.

GIFT FROM NEW ZEALAND

Princess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles, was the recipient of a wedding gift from the Women of New Zealand. The gift, which was presented by Lady Allen, the wife of. the High Commissioner for the Dominion, consisted of an inkstand of novel character carried out in New Zealand greenstone, gold, and puriri wood.

The principal piece is a beautiful and unusual slab of mottled greenstone, variegated with the onyx-like wavings called by the Maoris "inanga." It measures 9^in by 7iri, with an average thickness of about half an inch. This slab is set on a polished base made of New Zealand's most durable wood, the puriri. Let into the front

of this is a small panel of greenstone, bearing a gold plate with the following inscription: "To H.R.H. Princess Mary with affection from the Women of New Zealand on the occasion of her marriage, February 28, 1922."

On the other three faces of the base are inlaid greenstone panels with miniature Maori war canoes in gold. On the greenstone floor there are two crystal inkwells fitted into squares of 15ct gold, enamelled in Maori rafter patterns. In front of the ink holders are two small kiwis in gold, birds typical of Maoriland, which bear a greenstone and gold pen fitting across their backs. The back pie?e of the inkstand is a miniature front of a carved Maori house. In the %npper part there is an eight-day timepiece, encircled in n polished gold rim; below it is a sliding calendar.