Stencil, 'Fortification'; Unknown maker; WW.2000.1593
Stencil, 'Fortification'
About this object
This metal stencil used on the Fortification Run was a time saving identification tool for marking wool bales. The stencil would be placed firmly on the outside of the wool bale and then painted so the paint filled the exposed areas of the cut-out letters.
Local legend states that there was ongoing conflict between the Pākehā whalers of Fortrose and the Māori settlement on the hill nearby, where the Māori people were accused of stealing flour from the whalers. In order to prove this, or perhaps as revenge, the Pākehā poisoned some of their flour and waited. When it was reported that there'd been some deaths up at the settlement, the Fortrose residents tried to storm the hill - and the Māori set up a large fence as fortification; hence how the hill, and the Run, got its name 'Fortification'.
It is not known, even by local historians, how true or fanciful this story is; but it is one that is told and passed down regardless.
Maker
Place Made Medium and Materialsinorganic, processed materials, metal
Measurementsh 150mm x w 760mm
Subject and Association Keywords Object Type Object numberWW.2000.1593
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