Kamariera Te Hau Takiri Wharepapa, born in 1823 at Mangākahia in Northland, was a Ngā Puhi rangatira renowned for his intellect, eloquence, and steadfast leadership. Throughout the nineteenth century, he navigated significant social and political changes in New Zealand, demonstrating authority within both Māori and European contexts as each experienced profound transformation.

In 1863, Wharepapa travelled to England with a group of Māori chiefs under the sponsorship of Wesleyan missionary William Jenkins. During this visit, he was presented to Queen Victoria at Osborne House and received at Marlborough House by the Prince and Princess of Wales. Jenkins described Wharepapa as “the most intelligent of our party,” noting his composure when addressing the Queen.

While in London, Wharepapa married Elizabeth Reid at St Anne’s Church, Limehouse, in March 1864. Shortly thereafter, they returned to New Zealand and settled at Maungakahia near Hokianga Harbour, where they both contributed to local initiatives, including founding a school for their community.

Goldie painted Wharepapa more than once, a sign of the regard in which he held him. By this stage, Wharepapa was regarded as a rangatira of an earlier era, retaining the presence and ceremonial authority of a generation that was beginning to fade from memory.

In Te Hau - Takiri Wharepapa, Goldie does not dramatise his sitter. Instead, the portrait rests on presence. The modelling is careful, the moko observed with exactness, the palette restrained. Age is neither softened nor exaggerated; it is acknowledged with respect. The result is a portrait of measured authority, dignified, direct and assured.

At Goldie’s death in 1947, two portraits of Wharepapa remained in his personal collection, a telling measure of the subject’s importance to the artist. This work does not stand simply as a likeness, but as a tribute to a life of standing and mana, and to Goldie’s conviction that such figures warranted enduring record.

Private Collection, Auckland
Thence by descent
Purchased directly from the artist, 1920