The accompanying information with the sale of the print includes:"A magnificent reproduction of Charles GOLDIES 'A Summer's Day Hori Pokai (also known as Sleep 'tis a Gentle Thing). The original was completed in 1933 and most recently sold at Auction for a record $454,000."
Who was Hori POKAI?
"Hori Pokai
lived beside the Kauaeranga Stream in the Thames district. His father, Tauri
Netana, escaped from Hongi Hika’s attack on Te Totara Pa in 1821. He was later
captured by a Ngapuhi raiding party and taken to the Bay of Islands, where
Pokai was born, instead of his native Arawa.
Although
Hori Pokai’s tattoo was incomplete, he was considered to be the last tattooed
Maori in the Thames district. When Mr W. Hammond came to photograph the chief,
he painted Pokai’s tattoo with Indian ink to ensure that the finer lines would
show up more clearly. Pokai was so pleased with Hammond’s artwork that he
paraded daily down the main street of Thames until the ink finally wore off.
Pokai was an avid story teller and would
relate how on several occasions his love affairs brought him close to death. He
told of the time he paid too much attention to another man’s wife and the
aggrieved husband challenged him to a dual. The whole tribe assembled to watch
Pokai’s punishment. Pokai, as the offender, had to rest on one knee, with a
sharp stick in his hand, and defend himself against his opponent, who was armed
with a long spear. The offended husband was allowed to make two thrusts at
Pokai, in an attempt to impale him. Pokai parried the first attack and deftly
brushed aside the second. He fought this uneven dual twice and survived both
times. He was a man of great pride, with a keen sense of humour. His great
physical strength is clearly mirrored in his face, particularly the set of his
jaw. He was an able warrior and leader, but few stories of his battles have
survived.
Goldie first
painted Hori in 1905, after a visit to Thames. He took a series of photographs
at the time, and these were used for portraits in 1917 and 1919 and for several
in the 1930’s. The 1936 portrait Pokai Perturbed or Suspicion was submitted to
the Royal Academy, and the 1937 study A Midsummer’s Day, Maoriland was
exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1938. Goldie also had access to the photographs
of Hori taken by Hammond."
Source: C FGoldie His Life & Painting, Alister Taylor & Jan Glen, 1977
The New Zealand Herald 1 February 1935, has details of the painting by Charles Goldie. Pokai is said to have died in February 1920, whereas another newspaper reports the death date as 1930.
