Thistle Inn honours notable patron Te Rauparaha with portrait |Stuff.co.nz

Hutt Valley-based artist Phill Waddington has been commissioned to paint a portrait of prominent Ngāti Toa rangatira Te Rauparaha. Read: https://bit.ly/StuffNZ-portrait | Subscribe: https://bit.ly/2JPg8oB

It’s been a long time between drinks for a famous former patron of New Zealand’s oldest pub.

But Te Rauparaha​ is about to return to the Thistle Inn after the Wellington pub commissioned a life-size portrait of the Ngāti Toa rangatira who used to enjoy a whiskey at the hotel.

Local legend has it that Te Rauparaha, one of the best-known chiefs of the colonial period, knew former owner William Couper​ and, in later life, paddled his waka up to the Thistle, which was then situated on the shoreline of Wellington harbour.

READ: https://bit.ly/StuffNZ-portrait

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