Tahiti / Otaheite, Polynesia
18th century
Hand-colored copper plate engraving
16 × 20 in. including mat (40.6 × 50.8 cm); image: 8¼ × 10½ in. (21 × 26.7 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Stockholm
This 18th-century hand-colored copper plate engraving depicts Captain Samuel Wallis and Queen Oberea of Tahiti. Wallis reached Tahiti in 1767 aboard HMS Dolphin, and European accounts of his encounter with Oberea became part of the early printed record of Tahiti before Cook’s later voyages. The image reflects the period’s interest in Polynesian leadership, diplomacy, and first-contact narratives.
The engraving uses fine line work to present the figures, setting, and encounter scene, with hand coloring adding emphasis to costume and composition. Queen Oberea appears as a central Tahitian figure within the European visual imagination of the island. As a historical Pacific print, the work records an 18th-century representation of Tahiti at a formative moment in European engagement with Polynesia.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Tahiti / Otaheite, Polynesia
18th century
Hand-colored copper plate engraving
16 × 20 in. including mat (40.6 × 50.8 cm); image: 8¼ × 10½ in. (21 × 26.7 cm)
Provenance: Private collection, Stockholm
This 18th-century hand-colored copper plate engraving depicts Captain Samuel Wallis and Queen Oberea of Tahiti. Wallis reached Tahiti in 1767 aboard HMS Dolphin, and European accounts of his encounter with Oberea became part of the early printed record of Tahiti before Cook’s later voyages. The image reflects the period’s interest in Polynesian leadership, diplomacy, and first-contact narratives.
The engraving uses fine line work to present the figures, setting, and encounter scene, with hand coloring adding emphasis to costume and composition. Queen Oberea appears as a central Tahitian figure within the European visual imagination of the island. As a historical Pacific print, the work records an 18th-century representation of Tahiti at a formative moment in European engagement with Polynesia.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
