item details
Overview
Half-length portrait of two Maori women, seated next to each other, both facing the camera. The younger woman is Te Akakura Ru, a high ranking woman of Ngatirongo hapu of Tuhoe. She is remembered as Rua Kenana's favourite wife. The older woman is unidentified; it has been suggested she is Te Akakura's mother, Te Rau Miria Te Haunui, but this has not been confirmed. She has a moko kauae (chin tattoo).
Both women are well dressed, with ornately collared coats and flowers tucked into their coat breast / collars. They have their hair tied back in buns. Te Akakura Ru wears a circular brooch with floral design in the bow at her throat. The other woman is wearing a checked shirt with central ruffle, and a pounamu (nephrite) bar brooch with a metal fern motif in the centre. She also wears two kapeu (nephrite pendant earrings).