THE MUSEUMS OF NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 81, Issue 3, 15 September 1950, Page 285

THE MUSEUMS OF NEW ZEALAND

r J 'WO more provincial museums, the Rotorua Museum, which ' was •* formed from a private collection, the Whafya Treasure House, and the Timaru Museum are described in this month's article in this series by Enid B. V. Phillips. Rotorua Museum THE conglomeration of objects which accumulate in the average small boy’s pocket is likely to give even the most happy-go-lucky mother cause for dismay at times, but when, in addition to the usual miscellany, he secretes bugs and beetles and other choice specimens betokening a more than passing enthusiasm for natural history, a parent can be justifiably pardoned for feeling a trifle horrified. The wife of one of Hamilton’s earlier stationmasters was certainly no . exception in this case. Maternal misgivings notwithstanding, young Frank Oscar Peat blithely continued with his collecting, being singularly fortunate when the family was transferred to Opua in forming a friendship with the well-known naturalist A. T. croft. . Eager beginner and experienced collector, together the pair explored the many lovely coves and mysterious caves in which the Bay of Islands abounds, and once during the holiday season they spent a memorable month on the Hen Island in the Hauraki Gulf. The schooner Greyhound put them ashore on the island at night, but unluckily the rocks they had selected for their landing-place were directly beneath a shaggery, so the hapless travellers perforce had to stay there until daylight before they could strike inland. There were no means of communication with the outside world, and during the whole of their self-imposed sojourn in this solitary spot their sole sign of human life was a signal from the crew of the Greyhound as she passed on her fortnightly trip back to port. i Pot-shot from Bedroom Window ' Most of the birds in Frank Peat’s collection were obtained at Opua. His family relate how on one occasion he was so keen to secure a particular bird he observed close to the house soon after daybreak that he did not even wait to throw on some clothes and stalk his quarry out of doors, but seized his gun and shot it through the open window, thereby waking the entire household and thoroughly startling his two brothers who i were sleeping in the same room with him. On leaving, school he served a 5-year apprenticeship with C. M. Page, an Auckland watchmaker and jeweller, in this way developing a lifelong appreciation of other marvels of nature peculiar to New Zealand — gum and greenstone. When he started in business for himself he decided on the town of Dargaville as the most suitable place, the district in those days being full of gum diggers. They were only too pleased to put any likely samples aside for him, and though sometimes he had to purchase a quantity of inferior gum to get the piece he wanted, he did not grudge the outlay, and would promptly set about shaping and polishing the desired specimen, often a long and tedious process, as it was done entirely by hand. In this way he built up a magnificent collection of kauri gum. Much greenstone came his way, too, and many ancient Maori carvings (he had learnt much concerning Maori curios from E. Spencer, the noted dealer, during his apprentice days in Auckland), and in 1928, when he retired, he erected a concrete building 60ft. x 27ft. at Titirangi, near Auckland, for the express purpose of housing his treasures. The Treasure House, as it was called, was the first private museum to be honoured by a visit from S. F. Markham, M.A., B.Litt., who was making a tour of the principal museums in the British Empire on behalf of the Museums Association, London. After inspecting the Treasure House' in company with Dr. W. R. B. Oliver, Director of the Dominion Museum, Wellington, he asked permission to place it on record in “A Directory of the Museums and Art Galleries in Australia and New Zealand,” which he was compiling with the assistance of Dr. H. C. Richards. The volume was published in 1934. the year after his trip to New Zealand,. publication being made possible through financial aid from the Carnegie Corporation of

New York. The Peat collections were later bought by the New Zealand Government, and the kauri gum was brought to the i capital in time for the opening of the new museum and art gallery which had been built on Mt. Cook. The Second Treasure House However, once a collector, always a collector, and Mr. Peat again commenced assembling a collection which, though not as large as the first, was very fine and thoroughly deserved its description as one of the unique attractions of Rotorua, for it was at Whakarewarewa, several miles south of the town, that he established his new Treasure House. There was a natural alum bed in the grounds, and the pure crystallised mineral could be seen rising through the floor of the Maori temple which had been built on this spot. The immense totara panels in the temple were intricately carved to represent religious symbols, effigies of ancestral heroes, curious creatures from mythology, and traditional scroll or double-spiral designs. Several successive generations of celebrated carvers had made these masterpieces their life work, a single panel usually taking many years of patient toil to complete. v The array of greenstone artifacts within the Treasure House was not only of great historical value, but illustrated another aspect of craftsmanship at which the ancient Maori excelled, the display gaining added interest when viewed in conjunction with the rare prints portraying famous chieftains and their tribesfolk, scenes from Maori history, etc., which were displayed round the walls, and the cabinets of hunting and fishing implements, canoe paddles and balers, calabashes and cloaks, and other domestic appurtenances of the Maoris. Realistic Setting In the natural history section much use had been made of moss and leafy twigs against backgrounds of painted scenery to show the kiwis, huias, and other New Zealand birds in as realistic a setting as possible. The tuatara, the oldest reptile in the world, was also on exhibition, together with the oldest mammal, the small, furry, four-footed platypus, popularly known as the duckbill because of the shape of its snout, which has the nostrils placed near the top. Nature has provided it with two pairs of horny plates on each jaw to do duty instead of teeth. The shell exhibits ranged from the humble pupurangi'or kauri snail (which numbers nearly 50 varieties in New Zealand alone and lays white-shelled eggs in a leafy nest on. the floor of the forest and, like the much-publicised

early bird, prefers a worm diet) to the proud argonaut or paper nautilus, whose pearly, embossed shell, primarily a repository for the egg mass, is so fragile that perfect specimens are seldom found on New Zealand’s rocky coastline. For an individual collector to have acquired six such specimens, as was Mr. Peat’s good fortune, was a distinct achievement. Nevertheless, as might be expected, the mainstay of the- Treasure House was the kauri gum, these remarkable specimens, recovered from swamps that were once the site of mighty forests, being appropriately arranged in mottled-kauri showcases and revealing an incredible depth of colouring. Even a slight change in the angle of the light, for instance, would cause a flush of bronze to pass instantaneously to clear chrome, or a dark yellowishbrown to grey-green or emerald. A prismatic tinge was apparent in certain pieces; in others, the gradations of shading were so subtle as to be almost imperceptible. “With inexpressible delicacy the. many tones of yellow mingle together—amber, wine, honey, sulphur, straw, bronze, gold. In a bright light or when the sun’s rays are caught and retracted, firelike reflectionscopper, crimson, scarlet, orange, garnet, dark hyacinth, or deep ruby red—blend with softer hues. Under favourable conditions there is an intensifying of all colour to a gemlike

quality. • The larger specimens contain wisps of white vapour, imprisoned for many thousands of years. These resemble ‘mackerel skies’, the most purely beautiful of all the visible shapes which vapour takes in the heavens. Sometimes the : texture is thin and delicate; sometimes it gathers into* globules or rounded tufts or fleeces, but all are ruled by a definite plan or direction. Other specimens sparkle with prismatic drops or show a fine tracery of branch or spray, or the structure may take the form of variegated marble.” Kauri Gum '’Vase" . One unusual sample discovered by a prospector in a cave on the Tangihuia Range, between Dargaville and Whangarei, is regarded as being without peer, not only because it is shaped

like an epergne, but because the gum is still in its natural state, although the kauri root to which it clings and the solitary rewarewa leaf adorning one side of the “vase” are petrified. In 1942, when Mr. Peat wished to retire from custodianship of his collection of treasures, the Rotorua Borough Council took over the entire contents of the Whaka Treasure House and set it up in the municipal buildings, thus acquiring a museum readymade. The man whom the late Rt. Hon. Gordon Coates declared a “national asset” because his diligence as a collector preserved for his country so many valuable articles which would otherwise have been lost or sold overseas died in 1945, but the treasures he spent a lifetime collecting remain to give pleasure and enlightenment to countless generations : to come. His widow has gone back to Titirangi to live, and in the congenial atmosphere of a home containing so many rare and beautiful curios that it is really a museum in miniature his son Huia practices a craft which is fast dying out in New Zealand, the polishing of greenstone. Timaru Museum There are many exquisite examples of the potter’s craft to be found in the museums of this country, but few possess the power to charm the eternal feminine, whether little girl or grandmother, like the dolls’ china donated to the art gallery and museum in Timaru (the town whose melodious Maori name is interpreted. “In the shelter of the cabbage trees”) by Mrs. Arthur Hope, a descendant of a 'well-known pioneer family of South Canterbury. Without doubt, the loveliest of these Lilliputian treasures is the Staffordshire dinner service, every piece from the 3in.-diameter soup and dinner plates to the oval vegetable dishes and tureen being rimmed with green and bordered by a strawberry-leaf design

THE MUSEUMS OF NEW ZEALAND

in a deeper shade on a cream ground. The largest of the 4 ashets (flat dishes) is only 6in. long and each wee gravy boat has a platter of its own. Tiny Japanese Tea-set The tea-set, of bluish-white porcelain patterned in a dark, rich blue and bearing the former owner’s monogram, “H”, is of Japanese origin. The tiny teapot 'is just 2|in. high and the bowl-like cups are devoid of handles in the traditional Japanese fashion, though the large, deep saucers are reminiscent of Western-style teaservices. Another fascinating item from the Land of the Rising Sun is a combination plate and saucer l|in. long, the cup being proportioned accordingly

THE MUSEUMS OF NEW ZEALAND . . .

and intended to hold the early-morning tea for the mistress of the dolls’ house, The pewter teapot with its matching sugar basin and , cream jug * s On a similar scale, and the kitchen, equipment is completed by a minute milk billy and a quartet of shining copper saucepans with lids that' can be lifted on and off although not one of the pots measures more than lin. in diameter. Some pieces of the dolls’ furniture, such as the tripod table with its circular top, the double-ended couch upholstered in pale-blue satin, and two diminutive chairs, are said to be replicas of the suites in vogue in the 1820’s, but the four oak dining chairs are of a comparatively modern design. Dinner by candlelight was evidently the mode among dolls in those days, the delicately wrought candlestick of

clear glass (the base barely fin. across) containing a rosy taper the size of a wax match. •/ ; The Rockingham china tea-set, the gift o f ano ther donor, is full size, and the elaborately handled teapot is accompanied by a correspondingly capacious cream jug and sugar basin, rationing of these commodities being completely unheard of in Victorian days. The dimensions of the cake plate indicate that it was plainly intended to hold one of those huge plum-cake confections detailed with such prodigality in 19th century cookery books, most of these recipes beginning: “Beat together 11b. butter and lib. sugar; add 1 dozen eggs. . . .” The shallow, bowl-shaped cups are heavily scrolled and gilded with bunches of grapes to a depth of ljin. round the inner rim and the same

motif is repeated on the wide saucers. Indeed, all the plates are similarly gilded, the width of the design varying according to the size of the article, and the floral device of blue, red, green, and gold at the bottom of each cup is also painted in the centre of the cake plate and on the sides of the jug and sugar bowl. Cobwebby Laces The scarves, collars, and handkerchiefs of Honiton, Point, Brussels, and other cobwebby laces are the contribution of Mrs. T. Greg and Miss H. Hope, sisters of the late Arthur Hope. They also gave the embroideries executed on silk, satin, linen, and cotton materials, including samples of English, French, Italian, Greek, Chinese, and Indian work of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, the naming and explanatory notes of which were carried out by W. A. J. Wace, of the Textile Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Since 1922 these beautiful exhibits, together with toys, Samoan curios, Wedgwood and Staffordshire pottery, autographs, early book editions, and a case illustrating the origin of seashore pebbles, shared a large room with the art gallery in the library building. By 1935, however, the space was taken over by a children’s library; only a portion of the pictures and a few showcases being left. Four years later, when further expansion became necessary, these cases had to be removed altogether. During the war the museum pieces went into storage and it is only recently that items have been culled from the collections for display in two glass cases, one in the entrance vestibule and the other on the landing of the main library. The South Canterbury Art Society went into recess some years ago. but the South Canterbury Historical Society has since come into being. The late Mr. A. E. S. Hanan, formerly Mayor of Timaru, who was a keen ornithologist, took a prominent part in the affairs of the society, which has shown itself to be a virile body. The South Canterbury Historical Society’s activities of late have been greatly stimulated by the legacy of the late T. D. Burnett, who bequeathed his property in Perth Street to the Timaru City Council to provide “a pioneer hall for the preservation, housing, and display of such paintings, pictures, works of art, records, and articles of any nature whatsoever as may be of interest to the burgesses of Timaru and particularly those of a historical character.” It was Mr. Burnett’s wish that the site, which is on a slight rise, should be named Pioneer Hill, and the council has already approved the expenditure required for remodelling the brick and stone building to provide a suitable home not only for the Hope collection but for the laces and fans, the sea-green taffeta gown, mittens, and accessories from a bridal trousseau of 1860, and the colourful paintings, patchwork quilts, and other relics the society has m its care and which will form the nucleus of an early settlers’ museum in South Canterbury.