Sheba

This is a portrait of Alison Kirkcaldie, who was part of the family that owned Wellington’s Kirkcaldie and Stains department store. Mary Tripe has painted her in fancy dress, as the Queen of Sheba. In 1928, Allison Kirkcaldie was one of six young Wellington women chosen to participate in the Dream of Fair Women Pageant. The pageant was held in the Town Hall, with each participant dressed as a different queen. It was part of a fundraising carnival to raise money for the establishment of a National Art Gallery. Te Papa also holds a photograph of Alison Kirkcaldie, taken four years later at Wellington's Spencer Digby studios: https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/2108231

Mary Tripe was one of New Zealand's foremost portrait painters. Originally trained in Wellington, she also studied portraiture in London. She taught at Wellington Technical School for many years. This portrait is a wonderful example of Tripe's work. She often painted fashionable, society women, and her portraits show a great flair for colour. She was involved in founding the National Art Gallery (now part of Te Papa), which opened in Wellington in 1936.