Native Agent features the creative handiwork of designer and artist Rona Ngahuia Osborne. She makes exquisitely hand-crafted quilts, blankets and cushions inspired by the meeting of Maori and Pakeha in New Zealand’s colonial past.

The original ‘Native Agents’ were fluent Maori speakers employed by the Crown to assist Maori with land transactions and other matters of law. Woollen blankets were common items of trade between European settlers and Maori, so it is fitting that they form the foundation for many of Rona’s works. She adorns them with layers of shape, colour and emblems in a reminder of whakapapa - layers of family history.

Rona’s pieces are rich in symbolism, and she manifests a respect for New Zealand’s past in rare and special contemporary forms. Recurring icons of historic trading include muskets, hei tiki, cloaks and feathers. Other emblems embroidered onto the works reflect the natural world of maunga (mountains), manu (birds) and plants such as harakeke (flax). Rona Ngahuia Osborne’s works are superb, and combine striking design with a deep awareness of New Zealand culture. Products from this Native Agent will surely be heirlooms of the future.