Kōrero: Home décor and furnishings

William Bambridge, teacher at the Waimate Anglican mission station in Northland, included this sketch of his study in a letter of 1844. The very plain room, with its wooden-plank walls and floor, contains a few items of good furniture, including a bed, so it clearly served two functions. At the door sits a visiting Māori chief, and behind him can be seen the Reverend Richard Davis’s cottage.