A PRESENT FOR LORD PLUNKET.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12767, 13 April 1910, Page 4

A PRESENT FOR LORD PLUNKET.

A London correspondent writes on February 25;fch:— I had an opportunity of viewing to-day at the .Regent Street establishment of Messrs Stewart Dawson, Limited, the magnificent piece of plate which the Freemasons of New Zealand are to present to Lord Plunket on his coming retirement from the position of Governor of New Zealand. It is a thing of rare beauty and exquisite workmanship. Competent authorities declare that no finer piece of silver work has ever gone out of London. The whole work weighs 1000 ounces of solid silver. Maori ornamentation, copied from the best examples, is a striking feature, the rick effect, of which is brought out by gilding in a way that silver alone could have been done.

There is a silver gilt centre-piece in the form of an epergne, with a large centre jardiniere and four smalL dishes to match, supported by brackets copied from examples of Maori carving, and springing from Maori tattooed heads. The. single fcwt which supports the whole is novel in form. It is a square set. in a diagonal position, with sporting scenes on two of the panels, and of the other two panels one commemorates the visit of the Ainerica'n Fleet and the other the opening of the Mam Trunk Railway. The wholg is supported on a plateau measuring three feet by two, with bevelled 'feet and eight panels. .These panels- represent : — ' .'_.■, Captain Cook's chip Endeavour in New Zealand. „ . , A Maori war canoe, with typical landscape. . . , - The New Zealand training ship. A super-Dreadnought. _ . "Views of Auckland and Wellington.

Mitre Peak. All the panels are framed m richlychased borders copied from good examples of Maori carving. On ono side of the large centre jardiniere is inscribed Lord Plunket s coat of arms, and on the other Bide is the following inscription: "Presented by the Freemasons ot New Zealand to his Excellency Lord Plunket, K.C.M.G. X.0.V.0., Most Worshipful Grand Master from 1906 to 1910. In recognition of .his eminent services to the-Fraternity. Wellington, New Zealand, 12th May, In' the centre of the inscription appears the coat-of-arms of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted .Masons of New Zealand, established m I»9U. All four small dishes have Lord Plunket's crest' oh the obverse side_and a fern leaf with the initials ."N.Z. on the reverse. The centre-piece stands two feet high. - Besides the handsome centre-piece there are two side jardiniere to match. These stand on a single. foot about 18 inches high, placed on a plateau of similar shape to that which holds the centre-piece. Two decorative panels show typical New Zealand vegetation and a kiwi bird. ■ , The whole work has been designed and entirely manufactured by Messrs Stewart Dawson, of New Zealand and London. It will be shipped to the Dominion by the direct steamer Athenic. , ■ '