New Zealand chiefs

item details

NameNew Zealand chiefs

ProductionJohn Eaton; compiler; circa 1869; New Zealand

Classificationphotograph albums

DimensionsClosed: 70mm (width), 304mm (height), 265mm (length)

Registration NumberAL.000208

Credit lineGift of High Commissioner for New Zealand, London, 1958

Overview

Cartes-de-visite album containing portrait mainly Maori, with Pacific Island images towards the back. Images are inscribed. Brown leather cover with gold tooling.

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 page 332.
This extract was authored by Rebecca Rice.

[P]hotographs could be purchased and retrospectively organised into albums, providing souvenir records for soldiers, settlers and tourists alike. One of the most comprehensive examples in Te Papa’s collection is the New Zealand Chiefs album, compiled by John Henry Eaton, a civilian who visited New Zealand in 1867. With its views of and detailed captions about New Zealand towns and portraits of key players in the New Zealand Wars, Eaton’s album offers a unique glimpse into the opinions and perspectives of a British visitor in the immediate wake of the wars.