PORTRAIT OF TE WHITI

Taranaki Daily News, 14 July 1928, Page 5

PORTRAIT OF TE WHITI

SECURED IN UNIQUE MANNER DRAWING MADE ON A SHIRT CUFF. PROI’IIET’S BAN UN THE CAMERA. The sketch of Te Whiti reproduced below is a facsimile of the portrait, presented by Kapinga to the New Plymouth museum yesterday, and as far as is known it is one of the only three likenesses of the great prophet ever recorded. Te Whiti placed an absolute Lan on photographers and artists, and the sketch reproduced below is one of twn secured by Mr. W. F. Gordon, of New Plymouth, in a remarkable manner. The likeness was drawn on Air. Gordon’s shirt cuff while the chief was talking. Those who knew Te Whiti and have seen Mr. Gordon’s sketches, unanimously agree that they are very good likenesses of the remarkable prophet. The second sketch, a full faced one, may be seen at Parihaka to-day. Speaking to a News representative yesterday Mr. W. Gray, of Okato, said that he understood there was a third portrait of Te Whiti in the form of an actual photograph taken when the prophet was a political prisoner of the Government after the raid on Parihaka in 1881. The Natives, however, refused to acknowledge the photograph or recognise it as authentic. With reference to the securing of the sketches, Mr. Gordon gives the following account:—“l made the drawing in January, ISSO, a year before the old man’s arrest. I was at the Opunake Hotel en route to a meeting at Parihaka. Airs. Bartlett, the landlady, was also bound for the Maori Mecca, having been invited by the prophet. She not only offered me a seat in her conveyance, but asked me to be her guest. We had a pleasant drive to our objective, and Mrs. Bartlett received a grand welcome as we drove into the kainga, she being the first white woman to receive an invitation from Te Whiti to visit Parihaka. “In the evening the lady and myself had a long conversation with Te Whiti in his whare, a.nd as he sat there he had the appearance of a dignified chief of the good old school of Natives. Mrs. Bartlett gave him several presents, and 1. handed him my letter of introduction from Omahuru. The pro||lllli!inil!l!!!i”!!!!:!filifllill!!!’!r.!l!l!!l!!!l’!!!li!!H!H!l!!lli’'l

llllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllHllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll phet was asked whether he had ever had his pliotog'raph taken. His reply was in the negative, and intimated that he objected to anyone bringing a camera into Parihaka. He disliked the idea of anyone attempting even to photograph the kainga. As photographs and their devotees were ‘tapu,’ I had to content myself with making a mental sketch of my host as he sat conversing with Mrs. Bartlett. Next day he spoke for about two hours in the marae to about 500 people. “To exhibit any sueh thing as a sketch, or note book, would have been unwise, and as the opportunity was unlikely to come again, I sketched him, as he addressed the multitude, upon my shirt cuff. A week later, after visiting New Plymouth, I made drawings of both sketches, supplying the details from memory.”