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The Rev. J. Waterhouse superintending the landing of the missionaries at Taranaki New Zealand. Designed Engraved & Published by G. Baxter patentee of oil colour printing 11 Northampton Square London Nov.r 1 1844.

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Accession Number12,298CreatorBaxter, George, 1804-1867Date1844

Description

Media & SizeBaxter print: 300 x 413 (image size); on paper: 308 x 420mm (platemarks cropped)Inscriptionson label in ink in Dr Hocken’s hand: The Rev. John superintending the landing of the missionary, the Rev Charles Creed and his wife at Taranaki (NgaMotu) January 14th 1849. R. Wesleyan Missionary Notices, No 73 - Jan 1845 (T.M.H.) Mr Creed was afterwards (1848) stationed at Waikouaiti & Dunedin. He died at Sydney. This picture was done by G. Baxter’s oil colour printing process and it’s needless to say, is highly idealized. Missionary Ship - Triton. T.M. Hocken; label: Na Te Hakena Tenei TikiDescriptionDespite being known for his many works relating to New Zealand and the South Pacific, printer and inventor George Baxter (1804--67) never left London. In 1836 he patented a method of high quality colour printing incorporating the aquatint method, superimposing the colours using multiple wooden blocks. Although hugely popular and useful, his technique was by the 1860s superseded by less laborious chromo-lithography and he died in poverty.

Baxter’s image purports to record an historical event -- the landing of the Wesleyan missionary Charles Creed (1812--79) and his wife at Ngamotu beach, the site of modern New Plymouth, on 14th January 1841 -- but the artist’s lack of familiarity with the area shows. Mount Taranaki is based on Heaphy’s conical version, the vegetation is tropical, and New Plymouth has gone south. With feather headdresses and togas, the Maori are noble savages with an American Indian flavour.

It would seem that Christianity is being joyously welcomed on heathen shores. While Creed can be identified in the rowboat, it is his wife that is the centre of attention as she is carried onto the beach by ecstatic Maori women. Even though distracted by a gesticulating Maori, the Rev. Waterhouse still doffs his hat to the approaching Mrs Creed, reminding us that she was the first European woman to set foot in Taranaki.ProvenanceDr T.M. Hocken’s Collection

Depicts Or Relates To

PlacesTaranaki RegionSubjectsMissions, MāoriWaterhouse, Rev. J. -- PortraitsTriton (Ships)Creed, Rev Charles -- PortraitsTriton (Ships)

CollectionDr Hocken’s original collection

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The Rev. J. Waterhouse superintending the landing of the missionaries at Taranaki New Zealand. Designed Engraved & Published by G. Baxter patentee of oil colour printing 11 Northampton Square London Nov.r 1 1844.

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The Rev. J. Waterhouse superintending the landing of the missionaries at Taranaki New Zealand. Designed Engraved & Published by G. Baxter patentee of oil colour printing 11 Northampton Square London Nov.r 1 1844.

Hocken Collections | Te Uare Taoka o Hākena