Rare & Collectible Book Auction
Tuesday, 22 - Saturday, 26 September 2026
Rare First Edition of The Book "Maori Patterns Painted & Carved" By J H Menzies, Publisher ChCh Smith and Anthony,1910
Current Bid $10 (1 bid, reserve not met)
Register as an approved buyer to bid on this lot
Register NowThis lot closes in 3 days 6 hrs 26 Sep 6:06 pm (NZST)
Buyer premium and GST is additional to your bid.
All bids are subject to our buyer terms and conditions
Lot Details
A notable 1910 design folio and pattern book created by Pākehā colonial carver and farmer John Henry Menzies. Some minor damage to edges of the pages, but the images are all intact and in very good condition. Protected in a well constructed box. Rare first edition of an interesting pattern book of Maori decoration and ornament, featuring carvings and rafter patterns (kowhaiwhai), as well as Maori texts, the latter translated by Hare Hongi on a separate, printed page. The author, John Henry Menzies (1839-1919) was born in Liverpool of Scottish descent. He arrived in New Zealand in1860, and settled first in Southland, where he bought, developed and sold land. In 1878, he moved to McIntosh Bay on Banks Peninsula (Horomaka), near Christchurch. He bought the land from Tom McIntosh, and in 1879 built the homestead "Glen Mona". in the place of McIntosh s simple cottage. The new homestead was elaborately decorated with carvings of Maori patterns and flower motifs. The bay was renamed to Menzies Bay. Menzies put his usual energy into developing the property (about 4,400 acres). He studied Maori patterns and felt that he had gained an inkling of what they stood for (J. Hector, on astro-uni website). The introduction by Menzies consists of a short history of Maori carving. "I have attempted to collect and perpetuate these beautiful patterns, painted and carved. carved most of them in wood and stone myself, and have been more and more struck by the good taste and art shown in them. **** Take photographs of the silverfish damage, binding, and first page. ****
Other items you may like from this sale
Menzies, J. H. - Maori Patterns Painted & Carved ,Facsimile Edition, Hagley Press, 1975
Maoriland An Illustrated Handbook To New Zealand, Limited Edition, George Robertson & Co. Ltd, 1884
Pomare, Maui Hon. Sir & Cowan, James - Legends of the Maori, Vol 1, First Edition, Fine Arts LTD, Wellington, 1930
Williams, W. L. & Williams, H. W. - Frist Lessons in Maori, Whitcombe & Tombs LTD, New Zealand, 1940
Bracken, Thomas - Musings in Maori-land A Jubilee Volume, First Edition, Arthur T. Keirle, Wellington and Sydney, 1890
E.W. Payton - 'Round About New Zealand' Chapman & Hall, First Edition (1888)
James Cowan - 'The Maoris of New Zealand'
Maori Children Sketches, Whitcombe & Tombs Ltd, no date
Bracken, Thomas - Musings in Maori-land A Jubilee Volume, First Edition, Arthur T. Keirle, Wellington and Sydney, 1890
James Cowan - 'Tales of the Maori Coast' Fine Arts Limited (1930)
Estimate: $40 - $80
Mannering, George Edward; With Axe & Rope in the New Zealand Alps
Oliver, W.R.B. - New Zealand Birds, Fine Arts Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand, 1930
White, John - The Ancient History of the Maori, His Mythology and Traditions, Vol 1, 1st Edition, George Didsbury, 1887
Sherrin, R.A.A. & Wallace, J.H. - Early History of New Zealand, H.Brett Printer & Publisher, Auckland,1890
Cheeseman, T.F. - Manual of the New Zealand Flora, Authority of the Government of New Zealand, 1906
Sherrin, R.A.A & Wallace, J.H - Early History of New Zealand,First Edition, H. Brett Printer & Publisher, Auckland, 1890
Collection of Three Books on Early New Zealand & Settler History
Chilton, Chas (Ed) - The Subantarctic Islands of New Zealand, Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, c1909
Von Hochstetter, Ferdinand, Dr. - New Zealand Its Physical Geology & Natural History, J.G. Cotta, Stuttgart, 1867
David M.Taylor - 'The Oldest Manuscripts in New Zealand'.
