Auckland: Art Gallery.

‘Pare Watene’ (1878) by Gottfried Lindauer.

“Pare Watana (also known as Pare Watene) of Ngāti Maru, who lived at Thames, was famous for her beauty. Her chiefly status is confirmed by the rare huia feathers in her hair and her mere pounamu. This painting is a powerful example of the precise method of portraiture which made Lindauer so successful. Lindauer met Partridge, a young Auckland businessman, soon after Lindauer’s arrival in New Zealand in 1874. Partridge became his greatest patron, commissioning large numbers of portraits which he eventually displayed in a room above his Queen Street shop.”