DOMINION MUSEUM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22487, 3 August 1936, Page 10

DOMINION MUSEUM

OPENING CEREMONY MANY VALUABLE EXHIBITS GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S APPEAL GIFTS OF HISTORIC INTEREST [by TET.EGIUrH PRESS ASSOCIATION] WELLINGTON, Sunday The National Art Gallery and Dominion Museum was opened by the Gover-nor-General, Viscount Gahvay, yesterday. The public halls and galleries are spacious, and in them arc exhibited pictures and collections of high value. When His Excellency concluded his speech the Prime Minister, Mr. Savage, unveiled the commemoration tablet just off the main entrance. Following this ceremony, the Government House party left. Selections on the carillon then pealed out a message of dedication of the other part of New Zealand's national memorial, the carillon tower, while tho public toured the huge buildings.

After an appropriate address, thp Mayor of Wellington, Mr. T. 0. A. Hislop, presented tho Governor-Gen-eral with the conventional gold key to the building. " Important Achievement "

His Excellency said that the completion of the building was an important achievement in the history of the Dominion, and must afford the keenest satisfaction to all those citizens who gave so freely of their time, energy and money, and especially to Sir Harold Beauchamp and Mr. G. A. Troup, whose generosity and untiring efforts were deserving of the highest praise. Both buildings were indeed beautifully planned, and the carillon tower formed an artistic foreground to the museum building. "I am given to understand that there arc still in the possession of citizens throughout this country many historical records, relics and works of Maori art which would he most acceptable for exhibition in the museum," continued His Excellency. "Obviously in the course of time many of these will be either lost or destroyed by fire, and it would seem desirable that some practical steps should be taken in the direction of securing for the museum any such relics or works of unusual merit. Value to Nation "The value of such articles to tho nation rather than to the individual might be carefully explained, and the suggestion made to the owners j;hat they might see fit to make them available to the museum either during their lifetime or to bequeath them to the trustees in their wills."

The Prime Minister expressed the highest appreciation of the action of tho Tato and National Galleries in London in making available to New Zealand the loan collection. He spoke of the importance of encouraging Maori arts and crafts, and said it was tho desire of the people of New Zealand that Maori arts and crafts should reach the very highest standard to which Maori craftsmen could take them Modern Principles

The museum has been laid out and win bo run on the most modern lines and in accordance with the most advanced museum principles. Owing to the limitation of space in the old building in Museum Street, only a small proportion of the exhibits could be displayed, and hundreds of specimens had to be stored. With the erection of the new building due prominence has been given to the whole of the exhibits, which have been arranged in a proper setting under the expert supervision of Dr. W. It. B. Oliver, director of the museum. The Maori exhibits, one o.f the main features, are displayed in spacious galleries. There are several large canoes, each with an interesting history, the most noteworthy of them being the war canoe Toremoe, obtained from Wnnganui in 1930. Among other large exhibits are two patakas or storehouses, over 100 years old. One, Te Takings, is reputed to have been made from timbers of canoes which the renowned chief Hongi had dragged from the Lay of Plenty overland to Lake Rotorua, when he took the island of Mokoia in the middle of the lake in 1822. In the Maori Hall is a carved Maori house. Relics of Captain Cook In the museum proper the exhibits are housed in spacious, well-lighted galleries. Among the specimens not displayed before, which have been carefully packed away for many years, is a collection of Captain Cook relics, considered to be the most valuable collection in the building. One is a feather cloak, presented to Cook when he was in the Hawaiian Islands in 1779. Accompanying the cloak are helmets which were worn by chiefs in battle. The display of kauri gum is the largest and probably the most valuable in the world. It comprises 1000 pieces, collected by Mr. F. O. Peat, of Titirangi. The exhibits of birds and fish include many rare specimens, and there is also a wide range ot New Zealand, insects, butterilies and moths.