Tui feature on this striking drawstring bag, just one of a range of items celebrating Kemp House, Aotearoa New Zealand's oldest building, which turned 200 in 2022!

Inspired by a handmade workbag in the Kemp House collection, this drawstring bag is both beautiful and practical. The original cotton fabric was woven and printed in England c1900 expressly for the New Zealand market. Sold as 'Novelty Dress Goods' it caught the eye of Dory Kemp (her husband Ernest later gifted Kemp House to the people of New Zealand in 1974) who set to stitching a workbag for her sewing notions.

Dory also made an Eider-down quilt in a similar fabric, this time the design features Huia, with Rata flowers, on a stunning dusky pink background - it too is in the Kemp House collection - and has been reproduced as a Tote bag. Both Tui and Huia designs are also available as Greeting Cards, and Notebooks 

Both bags are made from hemp - a hardwearing, fully bio-degradable fabric with a lustrous sheen and pliant feel.

Thank you for helping care for Kemp House.

Kemp House was completed in 1822. It was built for C.M.S missionary Rev. John Butler and family at the Kerikeri Mission Station EST. 1819, under the protection of Ngapuhi rangatira Hongi Hika.