ART ON VIEW
FIG. 5: Te Pēhi Kupe (c. 1795–1828), Ngāti Toa iwi.
By John Sylvester. Liverpool, Great Britain, 1825.
Watercolor. 21.1 x 15.8 cm.
National Library of Australia, Rex Nan Kivell Collection, inv. NK1277.
Te Pēhi Kupe was an ariki, a chief of great inherited mana,
of the Ngāti Toa. He was an active fi ghting leader, taking
part in actions alongside Te Rauparaha, Tuwhare, Patuone,
and Tāmati Wāka Nene between 1819 and 1824. He
raided parts of the North Island’s
west coast, including areas of
Wellington, laid siege to Kapiti
Island, and eventually claimed
that island as his home. During
this period, the Ngāti Toa people
were affected by the onslaught of
northern tribal groups who were
pushing further south to fi nd new
places to settle.
In February 1824, Kupe boarded
the trading vessel Urania and made
it his intention to travel aboard
the ship to Great Britain and to
meet King George IV. Captain
Reynolds of the ship ordered his
men to throw him off, but Kupe
resisted by holding fast to the ship
and circumstances, which included
bad weather, caused Reynolds
to relent and Kupe embarked on
a year-long journey. During the
journey he saved Reynolds from
drowning off Montevideo and the
pair became close friends, and he
revealed his intentions of acquiring
muskets to enact utu (revenge)
upon his enemies.8 Upon arriving
at Liverpool, Kupe contracted
measles. Captain Reynolds
had little money yet called
upon Dr. Thomas Stewart
Traill, perhaps the most
famous physician and
scientist residing in
that city.9 Traill
took an interest
in Kupe, and his
writing about the Māori
chief contributes most of
what is known about the latter’s
time in Great Britain.10
The present watercolor by John
Sylvester is mentioned in Traill’s recollection of Kupe’s moko
and is worth repeating here:
Some very curious information was accidentally obtained from
Tupai on the subject of the amoko. The sketch of his head from
which the accompanying engraving is copied was taken while
he was at Liverpool, by his acquaintance Mr. John Sylvester;
and Tupai took the greatest interest in the progress of the
performance. But he was above all solicitous that the marks
upon his face should be accurately copied in the drawing, the
fi gure, he explained, not being by any means a mere work
of fancy, but formed according to certain rules of art, which
determined the direction of every line. It constituted, in fact,
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the distinctive mark of the individual; and one part, indeed, of
that on his own face, the mark just over the upper part of his
nose, Tupai constantly called his name; saying, “Europee man
write with pen his name—Tupai’s name is here,” pointing to
his forehead. Still further to illustrate his meaning, he would
delineate on paper, with a pen or pencil, the corresponding
marks in the amokos of his brother and his son. But it was not
only the portion of the decoration which he called his name
with which Tupai was familiar; every line,
both on his face and on the other parts of
his body, was permanently registered in
his memory. … The depth and profusion
of the tattooing, he stated, indicated the
dignity of the individual; and according
to this rule, he must himself have
been a chief of distinguished rank, as
scarcely any of the original skin of his
countenance remained.11
Kupe states his identity by pointing
to his forehead to his titi moko, the
central forehead design, indicating he
was an important high-born rangatira
by descent from both his mother and
father.12
During his time in England, Kupe
visited London, Manchester, and
Gloucester. He encountered horses
for the fi rst time and visited factories.
Kupe did not acquire the muskets
he had traveled across the world for,
and the British government arranged
for his travel home aboard a convict
ship to Sydney, where he fi nally
was able to acquire the muskets he
desired. These guns made Ngāti Toa
war parties more powerful, especially
against tribes who did not have
fi rearms.
In 1828 Kupe was part of a
large force commanded by
Te Rauparaha, with the
aim of conquering the
South Island in order
to control pounamu
(greenstone). Armed
with muskets, and with
the subterfuge of trading those
muskets for pounamu, they raided
Ngāi Tahi land at Kaikoura, Omihi,
and Kaiapoi. At Kaiapoi, Kupe was killed after a dispute
over greenstone in which he insulted a man’s facial moko
by calling it “crooked” and “badly done.”13
Te Pēhi Kupe’s life was a short but highly eventful
one. Dr. Traill’s writing about Kupe’s life, related in the
1830 book The New Zealanders by George Lillie Craik,
undoubtedly made a signifi cant impression upon the
American novelist Herman Melville. In Meville’s literary
classic Moby-Dick, the activities of the tattooed Polynesian
harpooner Queequeg markedly share a number of
similarities to the life of Kupe.14