Image
‘The phantom canoe: a legend of Lake Tarawera’
About this item
- Title
- ‘The phantom canoe: a legend of Lake Tarawera’
- Content partner
- Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage
- Collection
- Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
- Description
Eleven days before Mt Tarawera erupted a number of people reported a disturbing sight: a ghostly, fully-laden waka (canoe) being paddled across Lake Tarawera, in the shadow of the mountain. The sighting was widely discussed, and received much attention from artists and writers after the eruption, but has never been satisfactorily explained. This 1888 painting by Kennett Watkins shows the canoe in a dramatic evening setting, illuminated by the rising moon.
- Format
- Image
- Date created
- 2 March 2009
- Creator
- Kennett Watkins
- Contributing partner
- Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki
- URL
- https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/6840/the-phantom-canoe-a-legend-of-lake-tarawera
What can I do with this item?
Check copyright status and what you can do with this item
Check informationReport this item
If you believe this item breaches our terms of use please report this item
Report this itemDigitalNZ brings together more than 30 million items from institutions so that they are easy to find and use. This information is the best information we could find on this item. This item was added on 19 April 2013, and updated 28 November 2025.
Learn more about how we work.
Share
What is the copyright status of this item?
Share, Modify
See below for specifics about how you may use this item.
More Information
Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage has this to say about the rights status of this item:
http://www.teara.govt.nz/copyright, Crown Copyright administered through the New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga. All text licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence unless otherwise stated. Commercial re-use may be allowed on request. All non-text content is subject to specific conditions. Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki by Kennett Watkins Permission of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
What can I do with this item?
You must always check with Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to confirm the specific terms of use, but this is our understanding:
Non-infringing use
NZ Copyright law does not prevent every use of a copyright work. You should consider what you can and cannot do with a copyright work.
Share it
This item is suitable for copying and sharing with others, without further permission.
Modify it
This item is suitable for modifying, remixing and building upon, without further permission.
No commercial use
You may not use this item commercially.
What can I do with this item?
Check copyright status and what you can do with this item
Check informationReport this item
If you believe this item breaches our terms of use please report this item
Report this itemDigitalNZ brings together more than 30 million items from institutions so that they are easy to find and use. This information is the best information we could find on this item. This item was added on 19 April 2013, and updated 28 November 2025.
Learn more about how we work.
Share
Related items
Loading...