Story: Sex work

Distracting French sailors at Kororāreka, 1835

Distracting French sailors at Kororāreka, 1835

Māori interact with French sailors on the beach at Kororāreka (later Russell) in this 1835 print by Barthelemy Lauvergne. Cyrille Laplace, whose text accompanied this picture, states that young Māori women distracted the French sailors from their onshore tasks. The image includes a group of women who engage the French directly in conversation. Meanwhile Māori men talk to some of the French sailors and assist them with their fishing lines, watched by a group of Māori women.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: B-098-005
Aquatint by Barthelemy Lauvergne

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Jan Jordan, 'Sex work - 19th-century sex work', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/29362/distracting-french-sailors-at-kororareka-1835 (accessed 30 March 2024)

Story by Jan Jordan, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 31 May 2018