In 1980, Christchurch artist Ria Bancroft (1907-1993) presented the Gallery with two fine plaster castings and two terracotta model fragments from one of her most important commissions, The Bronze Tabernacle Screen Doors for the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Commissioned February 1975, the Bronze Doors were dedicated by Archbishop Angelo Acerbi Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to New Zealand on June 12, 1977.

When commissioned, the doors were just one part of a large project being undertaken by the Catholic Church in their redesign and restoration programme of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

There is more information on the Tabernacle Commission in the supplement section of Bulletin No.11, September/October 1980.