My continuing researches1 have not brought to light any documents in any archive here in New Zealand about the importation of the statue. There is even uncertainty when the statue was ordered and installed. On 1 September 1930 the Auckland Star ran a story “His Last Voyage” when the Cook statue was moved from the roof of the old brewery building to the wall of a new building. According to it, in 1886 Samuel Jagger went to London and returned to NZ via Italy. While in Rome he ordered the statue. So it might be Italian after all.
The article also says “Unfortunately no record has been kept of the name and achievements of the sculptor.” The only problem with this article is that it seems to rely on memories of old workers. They thought the statue was erected at the brewery in 1887. Which is different to the year in the 1882 Herald article about Jagger ordering the statue from Sydney and the 1884 Star column about its installation. There seems to be a question of the accuracy of these early newspapers.
Chris Paxton
References
Originally published in Cook's Log, page 30, volume 36, number 1 (2013).
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