This portrait of a young Maori dancer was painted by New Zealand artist Gottfried Lindauer. Lindauer was born in what is now the Czech Republic but he moved to New Zealand in 1874. Once there, he made a business of painting portraits of Maori people detailing their facial tattoos. A series of these paintings featuring chiefs and warriors was shown at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition by Sir Walter Butler. The Prince of Wales saw this painting of the young girl and was drawn to it so much so that Butler gave the painting to the Prince.
That explains how it ended up in an exhibition at the Kings Gallery at Buckingham Palace and where I saw it admired it too. You can feel a certain warmth and confidence in her attractive face.
