Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
The muse for an iconic Dunedin statue has come face-to-face with her bronzed younger self nearly 60 years later and half a world away.
Catherine Lee was 9 when she posed as Wendy from Peter Pan for British sculptor Sir Cecil Thomas OBE in London.
The statue has been a beloved part of the Dunedin Botanic Garden since the 1960s, and on Sunday, Lee shared her experiences during a public talk before fairies and pirates descended for a Peter Pan-themed storytime picnic.
For Lee, now 68, seeing her younger self immortalised in bronze was like a homecoming.
She has been wanting to visit the sculpture for years and said seeing it was an arresting sight.
"I just remember taking this sharp intake of breath, sort of going 'oh my god, it really exists on the other side of the world. It's there. It's me'. So it was a really heart stopping moment," she said.
Pirates, Wendy Darling and a Tinker Bell or two joined the Peter Pan storytime picnic as Catherine Lee read them a story. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
It all started nearly 60 years ago when her father answered a small ad posted in the window of a local shop.
She met Sir Cecil Thomas OBE, who gave his approval, before she started posing in his studio in South Kensington after school on Wednesdays.
She had to kneel on a hard stepladder with her arms out diagonally, looking upwards to capture Wendy in 'flight'.
"Very precarious for the model," Lee said.
Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
It was incredibly uncomfortable so she could only hold the pose for 10 minutes at a time, but she enjoyed the overall experience, she said.
She never got to meet the two boys who posed as her brothers or the dog who sat in for Nana, but had a photo of the sculpture sitting on her mantle.
"Peter Pan has just always been a part of my life and I've read it obviously. We did the play at my school and I was the understudy for Wendy, but I actually played one of the Lost Boys," she said.
"It's sort of woven into the fabric of my life."
Although this was her first New Zealand visit, she already knew the sculpture had made an impression - it is one of two Peter Pan-themed sculptures in the garden.
"When a friend of my father's visited Dunedin and told the ladies in the gift shop that she knew the Wendy model, she was showered with free postcards of the statue with a message to the 'Wendy Child' written on the brown paper bag containing the postcards," she said.
Lee did not get paid for the experience, but said Sir Cecil was extremely kind and good to her.
"He talked me a little bit like an adult, I think, and it made me feel quite grown up."
Pirates, Wendy Darling and a Tinker Bell or two joined the Peter Pan storytime picnic.
Katy Sinnott grew up watching the Disney movies and reading the books and was excited to share that with her kids Fynn, 1, and Sophie, 3. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Dunedin resident Katy Sinnott said generations of her family had loved the sculpture, including her mum.
"She has memories of them here when she was a child, and so it was really fun to bring my kids back to see them," she said.
Sinnott grew up watching the Disney movies and reading the books and was excited to share that with her kids.
She spent the night before making a Tinker Bell costume for her 3-year-old daughter Sophie and they watched Peter Pan.
"Sophie loves the Peter Pan one and she loves seeing all of the Lost Boys all around the bottom and fairies and things like that, and pointing out little mice. And obviously, sitting on Nana the dog," she said.
Ann remembered visiting the statue with her children during the school holidays.
"My children loved coming here to the gardens and the reason that dog's nose is quite polished was partly their doing," she said.
The sculpture - along with another Peter Pan sculpture by Sir Cecil - were the result of a donation by Green Island resident Harold Richmond.
Dunedin Botanic Garden manager Catherine Bradley says the sculpture has been treasured for generations. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Dunedin Botanic Garden manager Catherine Bradley said he was known for being a frugal man, but he loved to give back to the community.
He used to take orphans on outings.
"At the end of his outings, he would give the children a copy of the J.M.Barrie Peter Pan book. It was something that was very nostalgic to him and he thought all children should have the pleasure of reading, she said.
Wendy and her Attendants, also known as The Darling Children Learning to Fly, had been an iconic part of the garden for decades, she said.
"People come here with their grandchildren and children and share memories of when they were children, sitting on Nana the dog. It's a very well polished sculpture which is what the purpose was for ... for members of the public to enjoy," she said.
There were not many sculptures in the garden, and Bradley said it was important that those included were a place for people to stop, take in their surrounds and spark joy or reflection.
She was delighted Lee could visit and share her experiences.
It was made possible in collaboration with the Dunedin Library and Friends of the Dunedin Botanic Garden, as well as through the generosity of Lee, Bradley said.
Since her Wendy days, Lee has studied in Oxford, ran a small opera company in Italy before returning to join the British Civil Service and eventually become the director-general in charge of policy at the Ministry of Justice.
She was made a Commander of the British Empire in 2012 for her services to justice, and received the medal from the now King Charles III.
Lee flies home on Monday, but said the reunion had been the highlight of her trip.
"It's so familiar, it's been a really nice sort of homecoming."
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