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Story: Māori and museums – ngā whare taonga

Pacific artefacts in the Oldman collection, 1947

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Pacific artefacts in the Oldman collection, 1947

This film from 1947 shows the Pacific collection of William Oldman, of Clapham, London. Oldman built up his extensive collection, which included many Māori items, during his career as a dealer in ethnographic artefacts. The film portrays Oldman showing Roger Duff of Canterbury Museum his artefacts. Duff helped negotiate the New Zealand government's purchase of Oldman's Pacific collection in 1948. The items were then distributed among the Dominion, Auckland, Canterbury and Otago museums.

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YouTube: Kevin Conru

Film reference: New Zealand Mirror 11. National Film Unit, 1951.

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How to cite this page

Paora Tapsell, Māori and museums – ngā whare taonga – Māori treasures and European museums, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/44075/pacific-artefacts-in-the-oldman-collection-1947 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Paora Tapsell, published 28 January 2014.