This work was thought to be commissioned by Alexander Thomson after the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886. There is another work by George O'Brien of a similar subject in the collection of the Otago Early Settlers Museum, Dunedin, titled Mount Tarawera, showing floating pumice after eruption 1886 at Loin Rock Lake Rotomahana. Reference: p 66 Pavilioned In Splendour. George O'Brien's Vision of Colonial New Zealand. Roger Collins and Peter Entwhistle, Dunedin Public Art Gallery 1986