Maori arms taken at Te Ranga, 21 June 1864

This extract originally appeared in Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa (Te Papa Press, 2024) on pages 191-192.
This extract was authored by Matiu Baker.

This ink and watercolour sketch by Horatio Gordon Robley depicts the range of weaponry collected at the fall of Te Ranga pā. Like many of his sketches made at this time, it was sent to London and later reproduced as an engraving in the Illustrated London News on 24 September 1864.1

The weapons displayed in the original drawing, each numbered for identification and description, are hastily rendered forms, granting them a naive appearance, but in the published version a considerable amount of detail was restored, and the key, which does not accompany the drawing in Te Papa’s collection, identifies the objects and taonga. Previously vague forms, like the carving on the arero (tongue) of the taiaha, the hāmanu (cartridge box) and the pātītī (tomahawk), are now readily identifiable objects, rendered with greater fidelity. It has clearly been done by someone who has a familiarity with the objects and taonga represented. Robley may have conveyed more detailed information and perhaps more precise drawings to the Illustrated London News to assist the engraver.

1 ‘The war in New Zealand’, Illustrated London News, vol. 45, no. 1279 (24 September 1864), p. 319.