The Elam Archive holds a number of weird and wonderful remnants of nearly 130 years of art education, including a Certificate of Registration for a Snider rifle by Bonehill 1880 for the Director of Elam School of Art, originally issued in 1922. A grainy image of E.W. Payton in his studio at Elam from the Otago Witness, 24 December 1902 shows a room full of artifacts and curiosities possibly gathered during his travels. This illustration fits in nicely with the possession of a rifle for ornament as well as study purposes.
Elam, as with most colonial art establishments of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was very influenced by the National Art Training School at South Kensington in England. The teaching style created by this institution placed great emphasis on painting and drawing from still life, plaster casts, and artifacts. Therefore the classical moulds of Laocoon and the reliefs of the Acropolis were studied, drawn and painted, along with cups, saucers, a life model and even a rifle.
The image above was taken at Elam’s annual exhibition in 1920 and includes two drawings of armed men which were exhibited alongside the more traditional nudes and head studies. Click on the image to see a detail. The delineation of the gun in the left hand image is almost identical to the make and model of the 1880 Snider and therefore it is possible that the school possessed this item before the date stated on the license.
The certificate held in the archive was reissued in 1934, twelve years after Payton left Elam. This suggests that even with the advent of a new and invigorating approach to art teaching introduced by Archibald Nichol, this item was still part of Elam’s teaching toolkit.
Sadly, the whereabouts of this rifle is unknown. It would have been a most interesting artifact to care for. However a number of the plaster casts have survived and will be reinstated on a library wall in the future.
Victoria Passau
Fine Arts Library