This well mounted print is a reproduction of a painting by Charles Frederick Goldie, preeminent painter of Māori portraits in the early 20th century. The image was produced and distributed around Christmas time in illustrated newspapers such as The Graphic, or the Auckland Weekly News. Examples of this print often framed and hung in pride of place in both Pākehā and Māori households.
'A Good Joke', painted in 1905, is a portrait of one of Goldie's favourite sitters, Te Aho-o-te-Rangi Wharepu, Ngāti Mahuta. The original painting is in Dunedin Public Art Gallery collection.
'A Good Joke' seems to have been available in two printings, the first in 1906, when it was offered as a supplement to the Auckland Star, and again in 1921-2, when it was described as being ‘printed in full colours on heavy art paper, and is eminently suitable for framing’ (Auckland Star, 21 January 1922, p. 6). However on both occasions, the print was not only available as a supplement, a giveaway, but also available to purchase, in which instance it could be posted in a cardboard tube! (Auckland Star, 8 November 1906, p. 6) We are unsure if this print is one of those early versions however its an imposing work and beautifully mounted.
400mm x 325 mm. Overall frame size 685mm x 610mm