A New Zealand Float n.d.

Charles Meryon made this sketch of ‘A New Zealand Float’ with graphite on paper, at an unknown date. He was a 19th-century French artist, known for his detailed etchings of urban landscapes. The sketch depicts a traditional Māori raft, a ‘mōkihi’, which were commonly used for navigating rivers and lakes in New Zealand. Meryon never visited New Zealand. As such, this drawing would have been made from second-hand sources, which raises questions of colonial representation. How accurately does this drawing reflect Māori culture and practices? Was this float observed first hand or an idealized version of the rafts? To understand it further, one could research the visual culture of 19th-century France, the French perception and relationship to the Pacific, and the history of New Zealand at this time. Only with deep research can the historical and cultural context of the artwork be fully understood.