Maori Feather Cloak With Links To The Auld Country

Maori Feather Cloak With Links To The Auld Country

Relic purchased for £28 in Dumfries auction is £5,000 New Zealand rarity

The auction catalogue described it as a "feather picture" but Dumfries antiques dealer Dorothy Bushby knew otherwise. Next Wednesday (December 8) the rare 19th century Maori cloak made from tiers of various coloured feathers on flax is expected to sell for up to £5,000 in a sale at The Canterbury Auction Galleries in Kent.

To be sold with the cloak is an early map of Maori land holdings in an area north-east of Wairoa, New Zealand, brought back to Scotland by a pioneer settler, possibly gentleman farmer John Hunter Brown, who was born in Dumfriesshire in 1852.

Mrs Bushby ran an antique shop in Dumfries and purchased the cloak about 40 years ago. Now aged 84, she lives in Tenterden, Kent, and has decided that it is time for someone else to have the privilege of owning the relics as she has done since purchasing them all those years ago.

She said: "As far as we know, the cloak and the map had been held in a depository in Dumfries for many years but then they were cleared out and sent to the local saleroom. The cloak was described by the auctioneer as a feather picture, possibly because it was framed behind glass, but I knew exactly what it was I remember paying £28 for both."

Photographs were sent recently to Wairoa Museum and the Research Associate there, Nigel How, was able to shed more light on both the cloak and the map. Mr How wrote: "The garment is fascinating. From what I can decipher from the photographs it is made with pheasant, rooster and chicken feathers. The base is made of flax fibre (whitau), which is hand-extracted from the plant (phormium tenax/harakeke), hand-rolled, hand-beaten [and then] finger-woven together, attaching the feathers as the garment is constructed from base to neckline.

“From the style of garment and the colour of the whitau, this garment is circa 1900, possibly as early as 1860s. It is difficult to date items without provenance, but the style is indicative.

“Wairoa District was settled later than most by European immigrants, thus the feathers would have been rare and highly desirable at the time this garment was made. It is almost impossible to tell where a garment was made or by whom, unless an oral, written or photographic record was kept. In the case of the Iwitea/Whakaki people (my people), these information sources are virtually non-existent for garments.

“The map is of an area north-east of Wairoa commonly called Iwitea and Whakaki, about a five minute drive from Wairoa itself. I come from the village of Iwitea, which is near the Iwitea hill on your map.

“The land titles are still the same (Tukemokihi, Hereheretau), but the names of the fields are very interesting. Brown's paddock (John Hunter Brown - settler in the area), Kepa (Keepa Hoepo - an Iwitea ancestor). The other names are fascinating and I have not heard the names used in recent times. The road in red is still in the same position today.

“These items could have been sent back to Scotland/England by a settler in the area, possibly by John Brown (when he married he took his wife's name and became John Hunter Brown). Naturally, this is speculation. The Hunter Brown family are known however to be repositories of some maori treasures of the area that were given to their ancestor John Hunter Brown, who had a close relationship with the people of the area on the map (especially given they were neighbours).”

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts] describes John Hunter Brown as formerly a member of the Wairoa County Council.

The Cyclopedia reads: “He was born in Dumfriesshire in 1852, the eldest son of Mr. Adam Brown, of Bennan. Thornhill. He was educated at Marlborough College, was engaged for some time in scientific farming in Ross-shire and Inverness-shire, and in 1880 came to New Zealand. In the following year Mr. Brown purchased “Whakaki,” a fine property of 14,000 acres, all sown in English grass, on which are depastured 18,000 cross-bred sheep and 500 head of cattle. He also owns a special stud farm of 140 acres, where he runs a stud flock of Lincoln sheep, besides horses and cattle.

“Mr. Brown has on several occasions been elected to the Wairoa Harbour Board, and is a member of the school committee, the Gisborne Hunt Club, and the Hawke's Bay Agricultural and Pastoral Society. He married a daughter of the late Mr. John Hunter, C.E., of London, and has one son and one daughter.”

The Hawkes Bay Herald of July 14 1892 carries a notice recording the marriage as follows: “On July 6th, at St Mark's Remuera, AUCKLAND, by the Rev Isaac RICHARDS, John Hunter BROWN, of Bonnan, Dumfrieshire, SCOTLAND (Whakaki), to Elsie Marion HUNTER, youngest daughter of the late John Agrippa HUNTER, Paddington, LONDON.”

Interestingly, Wairoa, on New Zealand's North Island was initially called Clyde, presumably by Scottish settlers, but its name was changed to Wairoa to avoid confusion with Clive, near Napier, and Clyde on the South Island. Wairoa is the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region, located at the mouth of the river from which it takes its name.

It was originally a whaling station and trading Post, dealing largely in flax, but rose to prominence during the New Zealand Wars during which time it was a garrison town. Since 2005, it has hosted New Zealand's premier Maori and indigenous film festival.

The cloak and map will be included in The Canterbury Auction Galleries’ traditional pre-Christmas sale of fine art, antiques and collectors’ items. Viewing is on Sunday December 5 from 1-5pm; Monday December 6 from 10am-7pm and on the mornings of the sales from 8.30. The sales start at 10am. For further informationr auctions@thecanterburyauctiongalleries.com.

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