Palmerston South African War memorial

Palmerston war memorial, 2010. See also this detail image of Zealandia by Bruce Comfort.

The sorrow and the pride (1990), by Jock Phillips and Chris Maclean, tells us the memorial was unveiled in June 1903. It features a sculpture of 'Zealandia' - the daughter of 'Britannia' - who became popular as a personification of nationhood at the end of the nineteenth century. She also appears on the Waimate memorial and the masons for both were the Dunedin partnership of Bergamini and Reid. In both cases she has an arm upraised, presumably pointing to heaven, but evoking a gesture of triumph. The other hand carries a wreath, perhaps a concession to the dead - or perhpas a salute to victors.

Palmerston war memorial c1987.