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C1819
View in Macao, including the residence Camoens, wh…
Artist:
Very rare large aquatint view of Macau by John Webber, who was the official artist on Cook’s third voyage. This aquatint is from Webber’s, Views in the South Seas, which is considered to be the most beautiful series that resulted … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
View in Macao, including the residence Camoens, wh…
Date:
C1819
Artist:
Condition:
In good condition.
Technique:
Aquatint, with original hand colouring
Image Size:
445mm
x 330mm
Paper Size:
523mm
x 407mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1819
Description:
Very rare large aquatint view of Macau by John Webber, who was the official artist on Cook’s third voyage. This aquatint is from Webber’s, Views in the South Seas, which is considered to be the most beautiful series that resulted from Cooks three voyages. Published April 1, 1809. Printed on Whatman watermarked paper dated 1819.
Webber painted A View in Macao when the two ships, Resolution and Discovery, were on their return journey from North America after Cook had been killed in Hawaii in 1779. The ships anchored at the Portuguese colony in order to take on supplies. The views shows the mountainous landscape of Macau and its title refers the home of the 16th-century poet Luis de Camoens, who wrote a celebrated Homeric epic there.
Joppein and Smith (The Art of Capatin Cook) quote a remark by Captain King, mentioning a visit in which ‘I was shewn, in a garden belonging to an English gentleman at Macao, the rock, under which, as the tradition goes, the poet Camoens used to sit and compose his Lusiad…’.
References:
Joppien, R. & Smith, B. The Art of Captain Cook's Voyages; Vol. I, II & III. Melbourne 1985-1987 :: 3.372B.a.
Abbey, J.R. Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770-1860. London 1972:: 595.
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID: 614949
Hong Kong Baptist University Library: Special Coll & Archives DC2-35
National Gallery Australia: Accession Number: 2016.487.27B
British Museum London:
Joppien, R. & Smith, B. The Art of Captain Cook's Voyages; Vol. I, II & III. Melbourne 1985-1987 :: 3.372B.a.
Abbey, J.R. Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770-1860. London 1972:: 595.
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID: 614949
Hong Kong Baptist University Library: Special Coll & Archives DC2-35
National Gallery Australia: Accession Number: 2016.487.27B
British Museum London:
John Webber (1752 - 1793)
John Webber was an 18th century artist, best known for his work as the official artist on Captain James Cook's third and final voyage to the Pacific in 1776-1780. He was born in London, England in 1751 and was trained as an artist. Webber accompanied Cook on his voyage as the official artist, tasked with creating drawings and paintings of the places and people they encountered. He produced many illustrations and sketches that were used to make engravings for inclusion in the official account of the voyage, published after Cook's death. Webber was required to "give a more perfect idea thereof than can be formed by written description." Webber's illustrations and engravings of the Pacific islands and their inhabitants are considered some of the most accurate and detailed depictions of the region from that time. They provide an important record of the places and people encountered by Cook and his crew, and are valuable for understanding the culture and daily life of the people of the Pacific during the 18th century. He died in London in 1793, after having returned from the voyage, but his work continues to be recognised as an important historical record of the voyage and of the art of his time. Webber's oeuvre from the voyage was the most comprehensive record of sights in the Pacific region ever produced.
