Lost art panels rediscovered at Community House2 min read

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Two historic paintings by artist Mabel Upton, once thought lost to time, have been hiding in plain sight in Onehunga for decades.

The large panels, which once hung in the Onehunga Orphans’ Hall, have been displayed at the Onehunga Community House museum since 1998, after a remarkable journey of preservation, restoration and community support. Saved from demolition and rescued from years of neglect, they were painstakingly restored and remain an important piece of Onehunga’s heritage.

The paintings were created around 1920 by Mabel, a talented young artist who was taught by prominent painters of the time like Charles Goldie, Charles Blomfield and Cameron Johnson.

Her sister was married to a former Onehunga mayor, William Coldicutt, and they lived at Brenteby on Quadrant Road. Mabel painted the house’s ceiling and 12 panels in the large lounge overlooking the Manukau. Records held by the museum suggest that the restored paintings are two of those 12 panels, with the remainder destroyed in a house fire.

When the Orphans’ Hall was demolished in the 1970s, the panels were saved at auction by Gaylene Welch in 1976, who had long admired them through her involvement as a bagpipe player with the Onehunga Caledonian Society, which met at the hall.

In 1996, Gaylene donated the panels to Onehunga stalwart, Bridget Graham, who in turn donated them to the museum. Bridget recalls receiving the works in poor condition. “They were covered in nicotine and had holes in them where people had hung the unframed paintings up with nails while they were at the hall,” she says.

The paintings were restored by art conservator Davina Paverd, who spent two years on the project at no cost to the Community House. They later fundraised for the framing, with support from Leeches, and the paintings were officially unveiled on 9th September 1998 at an event hosted by the Maungakiekie Community Board.

At that time, Mabel’s daughter, Phyllis Sandler, then 84 and living in Campbells Bay, recalled watching her mother paint large panels when she was about ten years old, which could have been these works.

Today, the restored panels remain on display at the Onehunga Community House museum, open Thursdays from 9.30am to 12.30pm, or by appointment.