Pare Watene

Pare Watana (also known as Pare Watene) of Ngāti Maru, who lived at Thames, was famous for her beauty. Her chiefly status is confirmed by the rare huia feathers in her hair and her mere pounamu. This painting is a powerful example of the precise method of portraiture which made Lindauer so successful. Lindauer met Partridge, a young Auckland businessman, soon after Lindauer's arrival in New Zealand in 1874. Partridge became his greatest patron, commissioning large numbers of portraits which he eventually displayed in a room above his Queen Street shop. He kept a visitors' book in which many people expressed their delight in the lifelike qualities of the portraits. The Lindauer Gallery became a significant tourist attraction and, with historian James Cowan, Partridge produced a catalogue of the portraits. While in Europe, in 1914, Henry Partridge was shocked by the plight of Belgian refugees fleeing the German invasion of their country. He returned to Auckland and made an astonishing public offer - if Aucklanders would contribute £10,000 to the Belgian Refugee Fund he would present his entire collection of seventy Lindauer paintings to the city. The amount was raised within a few weeks and Partridge's prized collection found a permanent home in the Gallery. (from The Guide, 2001)

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