The Woodstock Battery

As with the previous image, the Woodstock Gold-Ming Co. Ltd. was located at Karangahake, in New Zealand’s North Island.  The Company was formed in the early year of the Ohinemuri (Oh-hin-ee-moo-ree) goldfield and existed as a separate entity  for several decades.  it was eventually taken-over by the neighbouring Talisman Consolidated Ltd.

The image shows the Woodstock’s 40-stamp battery which the Company constructed at the confluence of the Ohinemuri and Waitawheta (Y-tah-fee-tah) Rivers, the Ohinemuri being visible in the foreground of the painting, the Waitawheta in the center, to the right of the battery building.

The battery suffered a  major fire in 1910, and this was followed shortly-after by severe structural damage as the Ohinemuri rose in flood.  The battery was dismantled as a result.

Title: Woodstock Battery, Karangahake

Media: Acrylic paint on canvas paper.

Owner: Artists own collection.

This image is copyright

WOODSTOCK BATTERY, KARANGAHAKE.

 

Talisman Consolidated Ltd.

Talisman Consolidated was a London-based gold mining company that operated a mine at Karangahake (Car-rang-uh-hack-ee) in New Zealand’s North Island from approximately 1893 to  1921.  It was one of the ‘Big Three’ gold mines in the area, and was , for a time, one of the biggest gold producers in New Zealand.  However, the gold effectively ran out during WW I, and the Company closed  its battery  and mining operations in December 1919.

This painting is based on a photograph that appeared in the New Zealand Mines Handbook published in1906. Subsequent research indicates that the sides of the building could possibly have been painted Red Oxide (as appearing in the May Queen (Hauraki) painting that I posted on 5 May 2016). This cannot however be confirmed, although research into the matter continues.

Title: ‘The Talisman Consolidated Battery at Karangahake’.

Notes: Acrylic paint on canvas.

Ownership: Artist’s personal collection.

(This work is copyright).

 

THE TALISMAN CONSOLIDATED BATTERY AT KARANGAHAKE.