item details
Name'Queen Emma', Thames
ProductionRobert Leaf; photography studio; 1866 - 1875; Auckland
American Photographic Company (Auckland); photography studio; 1869-1876; New Zealand
American Photographic Company (Auckland); photography studio; 1869-1876; New Zealand
Classificationwet collodion negatives, black-and-white negatives, studio portraits
Materialscollodion, silver, photographic plates, sheet glass
Materials Summaryblack and white glass negative
Techniquesblack-and-white photography
Registration NumberA.004632
Credit linePurchased 1943
Overview
Half length portrait of a young Maori woman with her face in three quarter profile. The woman has been identified as 'Queen Emma, Thames' on the back of a carte-de-visite in our collection. She has a moko kauae (chin tattoo), and is wearing an ornate Victorian dress in a dark colour, and a bonnet trimmed with lace and flowers. She is also wearing large earrings, a necklace of large diamond-shaped beads (possibly jet), and a choker.