Exhibitions
Events
On display
John Menzies and William Morris
John Henry Menzies Stanford Family Pātaka Cabinet (c.1895) wood, pāua shell. Collections of Akaroa Museum (with assistance from the Friends of Akaroa Museum) and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, jointly purchased 2019
Talk
Past event
Philip Carter Family Auditorium
Free
The Stanford Family Pātaka Cabinet in Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania is a memorable example of the complex cross-cultural legacies of the colonial period.
Crafted skillfully by John Henry Menzies, it is shows the influence of designer William Morris and the appropriation of Māori art forms by Pākehā. Historian Janet Abbott will discuss Menzies’ work in terms of Arts and Crafts movement principles, and how their application in this country.
Related
Exhibition
Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania
30 May 2020 – 3 July 2022
Experience the Gallery’s collection from the perspective of our place in Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean.
Collection
John Henry Menzies Stanford Family Pātaka Cabinet
John Henry Menzies first took up woodcarving as a youth in Lancashire, England. He immigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand aged twenty-one in 1860, and began farming on Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula in 1877. Menzies’ interest in Māori art began in about 1882. He is unlikely to have encountered whakairo (carving) and kōwhaiwhai (rafter patterns) as living traditions until visiting Ōhinemutu in Rotorua five years later. Captivated by what he felt were endangered art forms, he filled two of three houses he built at Kiri-kiri-wairea / McIntosh Bay (later Menzies Bay) and a church at Little Akaloa with extraordinary Māori-inspired furniture and decoration. His most spectacular pieces were made for family members – this highly decorative pātaka cabinet was made for his daughter Charlotte and her husband Edwin Stanford.
(Te Wheke, 2020)
film
John Henry Menzies - The Stanford Pātaka Cabinet
A film about the Stanford Pātaka Cabinet, jointly owned by Akaroa Museum and Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Written by Dan Smith, produced and directed by Chris Pole.
Commentary
Te Wheke: Pathways Across Oceania
Every few years, the curatorial team at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū embarks on a major rehang of the first-floor collection area. It’s no small undertaking finding fresh ways to combine long-held, well-known works and new acquisitions, looking for combinations that will offer compelling viewing, immersive storytelling and intellectual engagement to our wide and evolving visitor base. This time, director Blair Jackson added another dimension to our task, challenging us to reimagine the physical orientation of the spaces to encourage visitors to interact with the architecture in a completely different way.