The South Otago Museum has started a collaboration to fund the restoration of six watercolour paintings depicting Inveresk, a property near Stirling that was established by settler George Hay Gilroy.
Museum curator Gary Ross said Mr Gilroy arrived in New Zealand in 1862, opening the first of his many blacksmith businesses in Bluff before moving and continuing this trade in Stirling, South Otago, in 1864.
He operated similar businesses at various locations across the district. An active member of the community and the business sector, he went on to become a respected, award-winning farmer, Mr Ross said.
The most significant of these awards was the Sir John Bennett Lawes Challenge shield for the best managed farm in Otago and Southland. It was presented outright to Mr Gilroy after he won it four times from 1894 to 1897.
The shield stayed in the family until 1987, when it was given to the South Otago Museum.
The Inveresk paintings depict the historic outbuildings, which are still standing today, in addition to the first of the two wooden structures owned by Mr Gilroy.
Mr Ross said both were replaced with some of the most significant structures still standing in the district today.
The first is on the Inveresk property and was built in 1909 of Benhar salt-glazed conduit pipes, which give it a distinctive glass-like finish, and the second is the stone house erected on nearby Inch Clutha one year later.
The paintings also show farm buildings, agricultural machinery and animal breeds on the award-winning Inveresk farm, and are owned by Mr Gilroy's granddaughter.
Mr Ross hoped the community would help fund the paintings' restoration, which is estimated to cost more than $1000.
Once restored, the paintings would be given to the museum and displayed alongside the Lawes Challenge shield.
''This not only opens a window on southern rural life in 1897 but also creates a rich source of historical information.''
He encouraged any descendants of Mr Gilroy or members of the community interested in the artworks to stop by the museum in Balclutha.
