Te Aho Te Rangi Wharepu was a warrior of the Ngati Mahuta who posed regularly for Goldie from 1902 onwards. This powerful portrait shows him aged 97 and manages to convey a sense of both dignity and melancholic wisdom. He had survived defeat at the Battle of Rangiriri in 1863 when the Colonial Government and its Maori allies invaded the Waikato region of North Island. Like Harata Rewiri Tarapata, he is adorned with symbols of his rank and status: a fine flax tasseled cloak and a Hei Tiki. He is also wearing two Greenstone ear pendants (kuru). The Maori consider items made from Greenstone to increase in value as they are handed down the generations.

This is a contemporary print of an original portrait in oils held in the collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, New Zealand. Goldie often made portraits of his sitters in European dress to contrast with the ones of them in traditional garb. One of Goldie's favourite subjects, Te Aho Te Rani Warepu was a renowned canoe carver, tattooist and authority on Maori history and mythology. Full facial tattoos like his, were reserved only for male leaders such as himself. Their intricate designs were intended to visually and spiritually communicate the wearer's personality, genealogy, rank and warrior prowess. They were built up over many years from an intricate combination of spirals (koru) and curving lines.

Lady Martin (1817-1884), the wife of Sir William Martin (1807-1880) the first Chief Justice of New Zealand, took Katerina Nikorima as her ward. She was educated in England and given all the accomplishments expected of an upper class young woman. She spoke several languages, played the piano and used her fine contralto voice to perform at charity concerts. Katerina married a chief of the Ngati Maru and eventually withdrew from European society in favour of the Maori community. Sadly we have not been able to discover her dates but she sat for Goldie at least three times. The Maori encountered tobacco via European whalers and the women smoked as much as the men.

Although respectful of the Maori, Goldie's portraits were intended for the art market. As well as painting Maori leaders and elders, he also produced paintings like this. Here the sitter is expressing a specific emotion for the appreciation of a European viewer. This sitter is unknown but he wears a shark's tooth earring and a Huia bird feather. The now-extinct Huia was a songbird that the Maori regarded as most sacred. All our works by Goldie were presented to our Founders by Mrs Sarah Struben Beulah Burton, daughter of W. Hobson of Auckland, New Zealand, who bought them directly from Goldie. Our thanks to RCAGM volunteer Charlotte Scott-Beveridge for her research assistance.