Pictorial Officials

Single 1/2d 'Fantail' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued July 1937.

The fantail or 'piwakawaka' in Maori, is a very sociable New Zealand native.  The bird's name derives from its beautiful tail of twelve feathers, which broadly expands as the bird flits about. In the background of the design is one of the best-known flowers of the New Zealand bush, the beautiful clematis, which is particularly appropriate, as both the bird and the flower are usually found near the edge of the forest.

Single 1d 'Kiwi' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued March 1936.

New Zealand has more varieties of flightless birds than any other country, and the kiwi is one. The bird is unique in that its nostrils are placed at the extreme end of its beak and its nasal passage is more complicated than that of any other bird. Although most bird's sense of smell is usually small, that of the kiwi's is high. It is nocturnal with its habits, issues a loud whistling cry, and sniffs audibly when hunting food.

Single 1 1/2d 'Māori woman cooking food' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued July 1936.

This stamp depicts a young māori woman lowering into a boiling spring a kete of food for cooking. A kete is a basket plaited from flax.

Single 2d 'Māori whare (House)'  gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued January 1938.

Upon arrival in New Zealand the Māori found they needed warmth and protection from the wind and rain, unlike the tropical islands from which they had come. They developed the style of large, rectangular meeting houses made from wooden planks with thatched, gabled roofs and doors recessed behind deep verandas. Their living quarters or whare were built in a similar but smaller style, the houses reflecting their communal living style. The functions of cooking and food storage were kept separate from the whare.

Single 2 1/2d 'Mount Cook' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued 26 July 1938.

Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand. The early Māori immigrants in the Arai-te-uru canoe named the mountain 'Aorangi' after their Chief's grandson. The lily (Ranunculus lyallii) depicted on the border of the stamp is one of the most distinctive of New Zealand 's alpine flora. It grows only on the high mountains of the South Island.

Single 3d 'Wahine (young Māori girl)' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued 1 March 1938.

The young Māori girl is illustrated wearing a 'pāre', or head-band of plaited flax, dyed red and black, or left the natural colour of the dried silky fibre. In her hair is a feather of a huia, a native bird now extinct. Suspended by a flax cord fastened around her neck is the characteristic Māori amulet - 'tiki".

Single 4d 'Mitre Peak' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued August 1936.

One of the most outstanding of the many wonderful scenes to be found in the picturesque Fiordland of the South Island is illustrated on this stamp. Mitre Peak (1,695 metres) stands at the head of Milford Sound. The ti-tree (mānuka) fills the borders of the stamp, and the four stars in each of the lower corners suggest the Southern Cross.

Single 6d 'Harvest - the Reaper' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued November 1937. 

This design illustrates the harvesting of a crop of wheat or oats.

Single 8d 'Tuatara' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued August 1942.

The tuatara is a link between the lizard and the crocodile, and is the sole living representative of some of the oldest creatures that ever inhabited the earth - evidence of the great antiquity of New Zealand. The tuatara is peculiar in having the relic of a third eye. It is 30 - 45 centimetres in length, covered with a grey, leathery, wrinkled skin.

Single 9d 'Māori decoration' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official' - two varieties of overprint exist a green version (issued 1 March 1938) and a black version (issued in October 1943).

The subject of this stamp is a modification of a design adopted by the Māori for the ornamentation of sliding panels used as doors, 'tatau', employing the preferred colours of red, black and white.

Single 1s 'Tui' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued March 1936.

A number of New Zealand birds are songless, but the beautiful tui is a notable exception. It is an inimitable songster, a remarkable mimic, and it can be taught to talk. Between 30 and 38 centimetres in length, the tui has two tufts of white feathers at its throat, a collar of long white curved feathers on the back of its neck, and a touch of white on the angle of its wings.  Its body is in two shades of brown, and its wings and neck feathers are iridescent, gleaming green or blue according to the play of light on the feathers.

Single 2s 'Landing of Captain Cook' gummed stamp.

Overprinted 'Official', issued May 1937.

Captain James Cook landed at Poverty Bay on 8 October 1769, during his first voyage in the Pacific. Poverty Bay was so named because of the unwelcome reception accorded to the explorers by the local natives and their resulting inability to obtain provisions.