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C1784
A Woman of Prince William’s Sound.
Artist:
Rare engraving from the official British Admiralty sanctioned edition of the accounts of Cook’s third and final voyage. All other later copies made of this image by other publishers were unauthorised, usually smaller and inferior in quality. Having found Controller … Read Full Description
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Details
Full Title:
A Woman of Prince William’s Sound.
Date:
C1784
Artist:
Condition:
In good condition.
Technique:
Copper engraving.
Image Size:
245mm
x 310mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1784
Description:
Rare engraving from the official British Admiralty sanctioned edition of the accounts of Cook’s third and final voyage. All other later copies made of this image by other publishers were unauthorised, usually smaller and inferior in quality.
Having found Controller Bay, Alaska which he given the name Comptrollers Bay, Prince William Sound, Cook proceeded North and anchored at Snug Corner Cove repairing a leak 16-17 May, 1778.
‘a fine bay or rather harbour…a very snug place’.
‘But I saw not a woman with a head dress of any kind, they had all long black hair a part of which was tied up in a bunch over the forehead. ..though the lips of all were not slit, yet all were bored, especially the women and even the young girls; to these holes and slits they fix pieces of bone of this size and shape, placed side by side in the inside of the lip; a thread is run through them to keep them together, and some goes quite through the lip and fastens, or fore-locks on the out side to which they hang other pieces of bones or threads.’ Cook Journals III, 1, 350
References: Beddie 1743-47, p.341, Joppien 3.457A, ill.p.481
From Cook & King, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean Undertaken by the Command of His Majesty, for Making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere….
‘I saw not a woman with a head dress of any kind, they had all long black hair a part of which was tied up in a bunch over the forehead & though the lips of all were not slit, yet all were bored, especially the women and even the young girls to these holes and slits they fix pieces of bone of this size and shape, placed side by side in the inside of the lip a thread is run through them to keep them together. This Ornament is a very great impediment to the Speech.’
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.
