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C1784
A White Bear.
Rare c.18th engraving of a Polar Bear from the official British Admiralty sanctioned edition of the accounts of Cook’s third and final voyage. Cook’s ships encountered Polar Bears on the 18 July 1779 off the coast of Alaska, between present … Read Full Description
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S/N: CK03E-ANI-OS-3252031–221184
(F27)
Categories: Alaska, US-North America, AMERICAS, ANIMALS, CAPTAIN COOK, PRINTS & PHOTOGRAPHS, TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEWS, non-Australian
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Details
Full Title:
A White Bear.
Date:
C1784
Engraver:
Condition:
Minor tears to sheet edges, otherwise in good condition with very wide untrimmed margins.
Technique:
Copper engraving.
Image Size:
270mm
x 215mm
Paper Size:
583mm
x 428mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1784
Description:
Rare c.18th engraving of a Polar Bear from the official British Admiralty sanctioned edition of the accounts of Cook’s third and final voyage.
Cook’s ships encountered Polar Bears on the 18 July 1779 off the coast of Alaska, between present day Wainwright and Point Lay. (N70.11°, E197.4°);
‘About nine in the evening, a white bear was seen swimming close by the Discovery; it afterward made to the ice, on which were also two others.’ King/Cook III, 3, p.251.
John Webber’s first encounter with the people of the Pacific came in January 1777 when Cook arrived at Adventure Bay, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). He was astonished at their unashamed nakedness. In his first painted version of this portrait, Webber included the man’s full torso, covered with ceremonial scars. Cook described the appearance of the Tasmanian’s as ‘far from disagreeable‘. ‘The keloid scars so typical of the Australian aboriginal adult male; came from cuts incised with a flint or other sharp stone knives, which were often rubbed with ashes of clay to enlarge the effect. They denoted initiation into manhood, but other functions were totemistic and aesthetic.’ Cook, Journals III, I, 52.
From Cook & King, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, for making Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. Performed under the Direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, in His Majesty’s Ships the Resolution and Discovery; in the Years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780.
References:
Beddie, M. Bibliography of Captain James Cook, RN,FRS, Circumnavigator. Sydney 1970: 1743-73, p.343
Joppien,R. & Smith, B. The Art of Captain Cook’s Voyages; Vol. I, II & III. Melbourne 1985-1987: 3.440A, ill.p.640
Forbes, D. Hawaiian National Bibliography 1780- 1830. Honolulu /Sydney, 1999/2003 62; cf.
Carter, J. & Muir, P. Printing and the Mind of Man London 1983 223.
Sabin, J. A Dictionary of Books Relating to America, from its Discovery to the Present Time. New York. (1936) 1967. 16250.
Hill, J. The Hill Collection of Pacific Voyages. San Diego 1974 321.
Collections:
State Library New South Wales: CALL NUMBERS RB/F990A/9
State Library Victoria: RARELT 910.41 C773VS
State Library South Australia: Special Collection: 919 C771
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.
View other items by John Webber
Peter Mazell (1759 - 1797)
Mazell was an Irish painter and engraver, working in London between c. 1761 and 1797. He is known for his fine engravings of natural history subjects, especially those illustrating books by John Walcott and the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant. He created almost 600 engravings in his career. He also exhibited paintings of landscapes and of flowers. He exhibited at the Society of Artists and at the Royal Academy.
