C1784

The Inside of the House, in the Morai, in Atooi.

Artist:

$A 250

Rare c.18th engraving from the official British Admiralty sanctioned 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. Showing the interior of the long … Read Full Description

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S/N: CK03E-2202-PI-HAW–216079

(C015)

Categories: Captain Cook, Hawaiian Islands (Sandwich Islands)

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Details

Full Title:

The Inside of the House, in the Morai, in Atooi.

Date:

C1784

Artist:

John Webber (1752 - 1793)

Condition:

In good condition

Technique:

Copper engraving.

Image Size:

244mm

x 178mm

Paper Size:

543mm

x 400mm

Genuine antique
dated:

1784

Description:

Rare c.18th engraving from the official British Admiralty sanctioned 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.

Showing the interior of the long house or mana in the heiau at Waimea, Kauai with carved representations of the gods. Cook reported on 21 January 1778: ‘The entrance was at the middle of the side which was in the Morai, fronting it on the other side was a kind of Altar, composed of a piece of carved wood set ere(c)t and on each side the figure of a Woman carved in wood, neither very ill designed nor executed on the head of one was carved a cap like helmet worn by the ancient warriors and on the other a round cap. like the head dress at Otaheite called Tomou. These two images, which were about three feet high, they called Eatua no Veheina, Godess’s, but that they worship them may be doubted, as they had no objections to our going to and examining them be this as it may, they here make some kind of offerings, as several strips of the cloth before the other piece of carving, lay a heap of a plant called […] and by them […]. It was obvious it had been laid there piece by piece and at different times, as there was of it in all states, from quite decayed to fresh and green. Before this place, and in the middle of the house, was an oblong space, inclosed by a low edging of stone and covered over with the thin cloth this they told us was the grave of seven chiefs. Cook, Journals III, I 270-1

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: 1743-34, p.341
Joppien, R. & Smith, B. The Art of Captain Cook’s Voyages; Vol. I, II & III. Melbourne 1985-1987: 3.176A, ill.p.421
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)

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.

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