Copy of a portrait of two unidentified soldiers [inscribed Johnson]; 1914-1920; Berry & Co

At Te Papa, photos of 30 unidentified World War soldiers are on display in The Berry Boys: Naming the Kiwi faces of War. These men had their photographs taken at the Berry & Co studio sometime during the war, but we no longer know who they are. The soldier subjectsRead more

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Portrait of an unidentified soldier and three unidentified women inscribed Brown, 1914-1919, Wellington. Berry & Co. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

Today, The Berry Boys: Naming the Kiwi faces of World War I opened at Te Papa on level 4. Part of this intimate exhibition explains how we have used uniform badges to help us identify some of the soldiers photographed by Berry & Co. But some of the portraits in theRead more

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The ‘Berry Boys’ began as an internal nickname for the men depicted in Te Papa’s collection of soldier portraits by the Wellington photography studio Berry & Co. Amongst the soldiers, however, are some anomalies.  Flicking through the collection on mass, something about a couple of soldier portraits demanded a closer inspection. The bodyRead more

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Graham Jackson and his grandson Mathew Jackson Raines were thrilled to see the uniform of their ancestor Sergeant John Smith Jackson (1870-1963) on display in Uniformity: Cracking the dress code at Te Papa recently. Sergeant Jackson is Graham’s grandfather and Matt’s great-great grandfather. As a young man, John Smith Jackson joinedRead more

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 I’ve been asked a lot of questions about why some of the new acquisitions were pursued and why they were put into this show, so hopefully this entry will help answer some of the queries and shed light on the curatorial decisions made for Uniformity. In my last blog Uniformity: WhyRead more

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Uniformity: Cracking the dress code  has just opened on level 4 of  Te Papa in the Eyelights Gallery.  This time we’ve focused on uniforms, the influence of uniforms on fashion, and elements of uniformity in the way people dress. A highlight of the exhibition is Corporal Willie Apiata, VC’s combatRead more

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