Rare ‘Maori Chief’ ceramic potlid Up for Sale

Media Release: April 9, 2019

An extremely rare Victorian tooth paste potlid is up for auction by Kiwi Auctions in Wellington on April 19 where it is expected to sell for more than $15,000.

Known as the ‘Maori Chief’ potlid and just one of two good examples known, it features a highly detailed image of an unknown Maori chief used by an Auckland chemist, Stephen Gilbert, who was in business from 1883 to 1916.

It is thought Stephen Gilbert got the idea for his famous ‘Maori Chief’ image from one of New Zealand’s early antique and curio merchants, Sigvard Dannefaerd, who sold Maori artefacts and had a shop a few doors away from Gilbert’s chemist shop in Queen St.

The Maori Chief potlid, measuring 90mm in diameter, was discovered at an old rubbish dump in Melbourne in 1995 and is expected to attract huge interest from collectors in New Zealand.Chemists used transfer printed ceramic containers during the Victorian and Edwardian era advertising tooth paste, cold cream, ointment and other products.

The auction also features a rare ‘marble bottle’ embossed with a Maori Chief head, named as Tamati Waka Nene in the trade mark registration. It has an estimate of $1000.

The soft drink bottle, with a closing design for a glass marble to be held against a rubber seal in the lip, was used by the Native Mineral & Aerated Water, which Sigvard Dannefaerd set up in 1899 in Ponsonby, and lasted until 1905.

The Kiwi Auctions sale will take place on Friday, April 19 at the Upper Hutt Cosmopolitan Club at 7pm. The auction is part of the New Zealand National Antique Bottle and Collectables Show at the Expression Arts & Entertainment Centre, 836 Fergusson Drive, Upper Hutt. The show is open to the public on Easter Saturday and Sunday and admission is FREE to all.

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