Westbank Antiques

Description

This is a very rare Photographic portrait tile by Sherwin Cotton of Sophia Hinerangi c1900
The tile was made by master craftsman George Cartlidge in Staffordshire between 1897 and 1924.
signed with G monogram at lower right and titled at upper left.
Impressed Sherwin and Cotton, Eastwood Staffordshire.
They were created using a technique popular at the time, rendering photographs on ceramic surfaces for a three-dimensional image.
The technique involved combining the use of varying mono-chromatic glaze and clay body depths.
The technique was generally used to feature the great and the good of the time - noted tiles included William Gladstone, Queen Victoria and key World War I military figures.
Who was Guide Sophia?

Te Paea Hinerangi is her Maori name. Sophia Hinerangi or Guide Sophia is her English name.

Guide Sophia was a Maori woman. Her mother was Kotiro Hinerangi and probably from the Ngati Ruanui tribe in Taranaki. Her mother may have been captured by a Nga Puhi raiding party. Her father was Alexander Grey (or Gray) and was a blacksmith from Scotland.

She was baptised Mary Sophia Gray on the 4th August 1839. First she was married to Koroneho Tehakiroe and had 14 children. Then in 1870 she married Hori Taiawhio and had three more children.

Guide Sophia spoke English and Maori and she was the main guide for the Pink and White Terraces for 16 years. After the eruption of Mt Tarawera she became a guide at Whakarewarewa. There is a street in Rotorua named after her. Some of Guide Sophia’s family still live at Whakarewarewa.

People said Guide Sophia was beautiful and she had a pretty voice.
Measuring 9" x 6"
unframed
Please see my other listing for Maori chief Tuari Netana