Glasses of whisky were raised as Ralph Hotere ONZ passed his favourite Careys Bay Hotel for the last time yesterday morning.
''He always liked a whisky, did Ralph,'' a local observed.
Across the road, a yellow Aramoana flag hung from half-mast in front of a glassy Otago Harbour.
Hundreds of residents lined the streets of Port Chalmers to pay their respects as the funeral cortege passed through the artist's beloved adopted township at 9.24am.
Uniformed schoolchildren stood in homage alongside Port Otago workers in orange overalls.
The hearse, a black 1927 Chrysler, was manufactured four years before the artist was born.
Hone Papita Raukura Hotere was widely considered New Zealand's greatest living artist until his death in Dunedin last Sunday, aged 81.
He was awarded the Order of New Zealand in the 2012 New Year's Honours for his contribution to contemporary art.
A Maori cloak was draped across the casket, which was stamped with Hotere's name in his trademark stencil lettering. His ONZ medal and a photo of a smiling Hotere at his investiture sat nearby.
Speakers included Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Chris Finlayson, Maori Party co-leader Dr Pita Sharples and poet Prof Bill Manhire, while the artist's widow, Mary McFarlane, and daughter, Andrea Hotere-Naish, were among family present.
''A farewell to the old man of Port Chalmers,'' Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu Otakou representative Tahu Potiki said.
''A man whose great gifts have been shared with and claimed by the nation.''
Mr Finlayson said Hotere was ''a great New Zealander and one of Dunedin's favourite sons''.
''He was a man with a mission. Ralph certainly confirmed the pen and brush can be mightier than the sword. He felt compelled to speak through his work and, in doing so, he made us think about what is truly important to us as people,'' he said.
''He was born in a raupo whare in remote Mitimiti and rose to appointment to the highest honour this country can bestow - a member of the Order of New Zealand.''
Other speakers recalled his humble, gentle and respectful nature, spirituality and love of people.
Hotere had experienced ''sadness and disappointment'' in his last year of life, but also ''great joy, love and laughter,'' family friend Judith Ablett-Kerr said.
She shared his pride at his ONZ investiture at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery last March.
''He was incredibly moved by that honour. Tears streamed down his face when he read the citation. His eyes sparkled that day. There was not a dry eye in the house when the Governor-General put the medal around his neck.''
Dr Sharples recalled Hotere's University of Otago years and mischievous humour, drawing gales of laughter.
''He was always trying to finish the lines of [friend and poet] Hone Tuwhare's poems.
''He was a philosopher who made people think. He stamped his mark on the world with his art. He was also an advocate for rights of Maori. He was very proud to be a New Zealander and Maori,'' Dr Sharples said.
''The four tribes will now travel to his marae and pay their respects to him and his family.''
Poet Bill Manhire read a poem he had written for his long-time friend and collaborator.
It spoke of Hotere painting in his Careys Bay studio, while the world danced around him. Hotere returns today to the Matihetihe Marae, at his Mitimiti birthplace in Northland, for the tangi.
