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C1784
Cimetiere D’Atooi
Artist:
Rare c.18th hand coloured engraving from the French edition of the accounts of Cook’s third and final voyage. Captain Cook arrived at Atooi (Kauai) on 19th January 1778 and stayed until 23rd January 1778. On the 21st January, Cook accompanied by Webber, … Read Full Description
$A 225
S/N: CKF-PI-HAW-03033–216060
(C015)
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Details
Full Title:
Cimetiere D’Atooi
Date:
C1784
Artist:
Condition:
In good condition, with centre fold as issued.
Technique:
Hand coloured copper engraving.
Image Size:
385mm
x 245mm
AUTHENTICITY
Genuine antique
dated:
1784
Description:
Rare c.18th hand coloured engraving from the French edition of the accounts of Cook’s third and final voyage.
Captain Cook arrived at Atooi (Kauai) on 19th January 1778 and stayed until 23rd January 1778.
On the 21st January, Cook accompanied by Webber, proceeded inland from their beach side anchorage to Waimea, on the south coast of Kauai. Their intention was to examine elevated objects visible from the ship. It proved to be a morai, or temple similar to ones they had seen in Tahiti and other South Pacific islands. This structure was nearly 20-feet high and covered in a thin, light-grey cloth, which likely had ceremonial significance. The temple rested on a platform and consisted of thousands of rough-edged lava rock piled in a tight, mortarless fashion. In the center is the spindly-legged oracle tower, where the priest (kahuna) might seek counsel or pray. Carved figures with tapa and leaf offerings are seen outside thatched huts topped with pili, the tall grass that grew throughout the lowlands. In his journal, Cook took particular note of several stone objects he had observed:
On 21 January 1778, Cook reported: “The Pyramid which they call Henananoo was erected at one end […] the four sides was built of small sticks and branches, in an open manner and the inside of the pyramid was hollow or open from bottom to top. Some part of it was, or had been covered with a very think light grey cloth, which seemed to be consecrated to religious and ceremonious purposes, as a good deal of it was about this morai and I had some of it forced upon me at my first landing. On each side and near the Pyrimid, stood erect some rude carved boards, exactly like those in the morais at Otaheite. At the foot of these were square places, a little sunk below the common level and inclosed with stone, these we understood were graves. About the middle of the morai were three of these places in line, where we were told three chiefs had been buried; before them was another that was oblong, this they called Tanga[ta] taboo and gave us clearly to understand that three human sacrifices has been buried there, that is one at the burial of each chief.” sic
From Hawkesworth, Cartes et Figures des Voyages Entrepris par Ordre de sa Majeste Britannique… Paris: Nyon and Merigot, 1774.
References:
Beddie, M. Bibliography of Captain James Cook, RN,FRS, Circumnavigator. Sydney 1970: 659.
Collections:
Bibliotheque Nationale de France: 4-P2-19
National Library Australia: Bib ID: 1319945
National Library New Zealand: NLNZ ALMA 9913312233502836
New York Public Library: KBF (Hawkesworth, J. Relation des voyages entrepris) v. 1-4
State Library New South Wales: 991013932229702626
State Library Victoria: RARELTF ; 910.41 H31R
State Library South Australia: 910.4 H395 b
State Library Queensland: LCCallNum: 05034855
John Webber (1752 - 1793)
Born in London in 1752, the son of a Swiss sculptor. He received his early artistic training in London before continuing his studies in Paris under Jean-Georges Wille, where he developed the precise draughtsmanship that later distinguished his work. By the early 1770s he had returned to Britain and established himself as a promising young artist. In 1776 Webber was appointed official artist to James Cook's 3rd and final voyage of exploration. The expedition, undertaken in HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery, sought a northern passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. During the voyage, which lasted until 1780, Webber produced an extensive visual record of the regions visited, including the Pacific Islands, the northwest coast of North America, and parts of eastern Asia. His drawings documented landscapes, settlements, flora, fauna, and the inhabitants encountered by the expedition, particularly in places such as Tahiti, Hawai‘i, and Nootka Sound. Webber was present during the final stages of the voyage, including the events surrounding Cook’s death at Kealakekua Bay in 1779. His work from this period includes some of the earliest European visual representations of Hawaiian society. Throughout the expedition he worked under demanding conditions, often producing rapid sketches in the field which were later refined into finished compositions. Following his return to Britain, Webber prepared many of his drawings for engraving for the official account of the voyage, A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, published in 1784. These images played a central role in shaping European understanding of the Pacific and its peoples. His work combined empirical observation with the compositional conventions of late eighteenth-century European art, and it contributed to the visual culture of exploration. Webber exhibited at the Royal Academy in London and continued to produce paintings and drawings based on his travels, as well as other subjects. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1785, reflecting his professional standing. His later work included both exhibition pieces and commissioned works, though he remained best known for his Pacific imagery. John Webber died in London in 1793 at the age of forty-one. His surviving drawings and paintings are held in major collections, including the British Museum and other institutions, and they remain an important visual record of Cook’s Third Voyage.
