Hand-knitted shawl with scalloped edges made by Caroline McDonald, on a mannequin.
Canterbury Museum (PA1271)
He hikurere ātakaHome-spun, hand-knitted treasure
I hakaia tēnei hikurere ātaka i te Pāmu Bellvue a Harriet rāua ko Donald McDonald i Karumata i te whiore o kā tau 1870. Nā Caroline, te mātāmua o ā rāua tamāhine, i whatu i mua i tōna pūhuruhurutaka.
Nō te wāhi kāika anō te wūru me te hikurere, inā hoki nā tō rātou kiritata, a Mrs McKay, te miro, ā, nāna hoki i whenu ki te wūru i kutia i kā hipi i te pāmu McKay.
E ai ki te whānau, he mea āwhina a Caroline e tōna whaea ki te whatu i te hikurere. Ekari he māmā noa te pohewa i tō te kōtiro me tōna whānau poho kererū i te whakaputaka o tētahi hikurere he pēnei te ātaahua. He tohu whakanui tēnei ki te rika rehe me kā pūkeka i tuku iho mā kā whakatipuraka, me te haereka toutaka o te mōhiotaka o tuauki ka hono i kā taha e rua o te ao.
Kei te whakaaturia
Hand-knitted shawl made of yarn from home-spun wool late 1870s. Made by Caroline Hewson McDonald (1868–1937)
On loan from Canterbury Pilgrims and Early Settlers Association collection, Canterbury Museum (PA1271)
This exquisite shawl was crafted on Harriet and Donald McDonald’s Bellvue Farm in Leeston in the late 1870s. The maker was Caroline, their oldest daughter, when she was not yet in her teens.
Both the finished article and the material were home grown in Leeston, as the yarn came from their neighbour, Mrs McKay, who spun it from wool gathered from sheep on the McKays’ farm.
According to the family, Caroline knitted the shawl with her mother’s help. But you can imagine the young girl’s immense pride, and her family’s, in producing a garment of such beauty. It is a tribute to art and skills handed down through the generations, and the continuity of ancient knowledge that connects one side of the world to the other.
On display
Hand-knitted shawl made of yarn from home-spun wool late 1870s. Made by Caroline Hewson McDonald (1868–1937)
On loan from Canterbury Pilgrims and Early Settlers Association collection, Canterbury Museum (PA1271)