LOSS OF MAORI RELICS

Taranaki Daily News, 29 August 1933, Page 5

LOSS OF MAORI RELICS

NEW ZEALAND SUFFERS ENGLISH MUSEUMS PROFITING. SMALL CHANCES OF RETURN. Christchurch, Aug. 27. Although the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, stated recently when opening in Wellington the exhibition of antiques in aid of the Y.M.C.A.,. that he was approaching the British Museum authorities and the British Government with the object of securing the return to New Zealand of valuable Maori relics which had been taken out of the country in the early days, it is considered that there will be little hope of recovering specimens of Maori art for' New- Zealand. Whalers and others took priceless Maori works of art out of the country, but it is considered that any which have since been lodged with British museums are lost to the Dominion. The flow of valuable Maori specimens of art and craftsmanship from New Zealand to Great Britain was stemmed in 1901, when it was stipulated by a special Act of Parliament that no Maori antiquities should leave the country with- < out being first offered for sale to the Government. . The > term “antiquities” was made wide enough to embrace Maori relics, articles manufactured with ancient Maori tools and according to Maori methods, and all other articles of historical and scientific value or interest relating to New Zealand, with the exception of botanical and mineral specimens. EXTENSIVE LOSSES. However, there had been a considerable drain of historical articles from the country for many years before this, and it is known that even to-day relics of real value are smuggled out of New Zealand in defiance of the law. There remain in New Zealand several large and valuable Maori collections, such ns those in the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and in the Dominion Museum, Wellington, but apart from these there are also collections in England which include many examples of Maori art of great value. There is a fairly large Maori collection in the Canterbury Museum, but it is not as good as those in the north. The Governor-General’s hope is that it might be possible to induce British museums to release Maori treasures so that they might be returned to the Dominion, where, it is felt, it is proper that they should be lodged. Expert visitors from overseas have often expressed disappointment with the paucity and mediocrity of the Maori collections in the New Zealand museums. But it is considered to be almost impossible to secure the return of exported treasures by making an appeal to British museums. No museum will part with its exhibits lightly, and numerous severe restrictions prevent several of the leading British in- , stitutions from meeting any request that might be made by this country. NEWCASTLE MUSEUM’S TREASURES. One of the finest collections of Maori material in Great Britain is, strangely enough, in the Newcastle Museum, and not, as many might suppose, in the British Museum. ,It so happened that in the early days most of the South Sea whalers were equipped at Newcastle and returned there after their voyages. Many of them skirted the New Zealand coast and the history of North Auckland is largely bound up with the exploits of whaling parties which landed there. They took many priceless treasures back to England, and many have since been lodged with the Newcastle Museum. Nothing short of an Act of Parliament, It is believed, will enable the return of relics to this country. It is also stated that even this course might be of no avail or that its adoption might be refused in view of the disinclination to remove articles from British museums and so destroy the value of collections. This being so, it is believed by museum authorities in New Zealand that the. only hope of improving Maori collections in this country lies in inducing private collectors either in New Zealand, or Great Britain to present valuable articles for exhibition. V PRIVATE COLLECTIONS. It is practically certain that there are valuable private collections at Home. Several are known to exist, and apart from large private collections in this country, it is felt that many persons must own odd articles of historical value. In many instances, it is stated, owners of Maori antiques do not know the value of the articles they hold, and there is a real danger that they might be lost through negligence. Discussing the question yesterday, the curator of the Canterbury Museum, Professor R. Speight, said there would be considerable difficulty in securing the release of valuable Maori relics from British museums. The possibility was, in fact, very remote.