Goldie Bought By Actor In 1902 Returns To N.Z.

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30962, 19 January 1966, Page 1

Goldie Bought By Actor In 1902 Returns To N.Z.

.New Zealand Press Association)

AUCKLAND, January 18. A portrait painted by the •arly New Zealand painter, C. F. Goldie, was returned to New Zealand on Monday after an absence of nearly 64 years. The painting was originally owned by the Edwardian actor

Cecil Ward, who toured New Zealand in 1902. His widow offered it for sale in England recently. It was bought by a New Zealander, Mr N. F. Layther, who is an airline pilot with Gulf Aviation and who is at present living in Bahrein in the Persian Gtdf. He bought the painting for an undisclosed amount. It has been insured for £5OO. Although he is at present living in Bahrein, the climate there, coupled with the fr.ct that he hopes to return to live in New Zealand permanently in a few years' time, made Mr Layther decide to send the painting back to a friend for safe keeping. The portrait, signed by Goldie “Auckland 1902.” is a head-and-shoulders portrait in oils measuring 191 inches by 23J inches. It shows the left orofile of a Maori chieftainess. Ena Te Papataki. wearing a greenstone pendant in her ear and with a wooden tobacco pipe in her mouth. There is a tattoo on her upper lip. Her dress is of dark material and around her neck is a yellow I scarf.