The Siege of Pukerangiora

Place Oceania: New Zealand
Accession Number ART96198
Collection type Art
Measurement Image: 26.4 x 20.6 cm
Object type Print
Physical description Handcoloured engraving on paper
Maker Mahony, Frank Prout
Date made 1886
Conflict New Zealand Wars, 1845-1872
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Depicts a member of the New Zealand militia signalling to a group of men in front of him who fire a loaded cannon, while the body of a soldier lies dead in the foreground. Mahony's image appeared in the 'Picturesque Atlas of Australasia'. Situated on a high bluff above the Waitura River, Pukerangiora was fought over for 3 years during the New Zealand Wars. It was the site of a battle against the British in 1861 and the site of the second Taranaki War in 1864. Frank Prout Mahony (1862-1916) was born in Melbourne, but from the age of 10 in Sydney began work in an architect's office and studied under Giulio Anivitti at the New South Wales Academy of Art. His emergence as an artist dates from his employment on the 'Picturesque Atlas of Australasia' in 1886. Until Federation in 1901, Mahony was one of the best-known Australian artists and illustrators, specialising in the depiction of horses and in action scenes which stimulated-and reflected-national sentiment. In 1893 he illustrated A. B. Paterson's poem 'The Geebung Polo Club' and later his illustrations featured prominantly in several popular books, including Henry Lawson's 'While the Billy Boils' (1896) and 'In the Days when the World was Wide' (1900) and Ethel Pedley's 'Dot and the Kangaroo' (1899).