Huahine, Society Islands, Polynesia
1809
Aquatint engraving with original hand color, after John Webber
20 x 24 in. mat; image 12 1/2 x 17 in.
50.8 x 61 cm mat; image 31.8 x 43.2 cm
Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, Lot 182, 2006; John Dominis Holt, Honolulu, Hawaii
This aquatint after John Webber depicts a toopapaoo of a chief, with a priest making an offering at a morai in Huahine. Webber served as official artist on Captain Cook’s third voyage, recording landscapes, people, ceremonies, dwellings, and objects encountered across the Pacific. His images became central to the European visual record of Polynesia and the wider history of Pacific exploration.
The plate was published in London by Boydell & Company in 1809 as part of Webber’s Views in the South Seas. Aquatint allowed for softer tonal effects than line engraving alone, while the original hand color added further visual detail to the scene. The subject records a ceremonial and funerary setting, connecting chiefly status, ritual offering, and sacred space in the Society Islands.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Huahine, Society Islands, Polynesia
1809
Aquatint engraving with original hand color, after John Webber
20 x 24 in. mat; image 12 1/2 x 17 in.
50.8 x 61 cm mat; image 31.8 x 43.2 cm
Provenance: Sotheby’s New York, Lot 182, 2006; John Dominis Holt, Honolulu, Hawaii
This aquatint after John Webber depicts a toopapaoo of a chief, with a priest making an offering at a morai in Huahine. Webber served as official artist on Captain Cook’s third voyage, recording landscapes, people, ceremonies, dwellings, and objects encountered across the Pacific. His images became central to the European visual record of Polynesia and the wider history of Pacific exploration.
The plate was published in London by Boydell & Company in 1809 as part of Webber’s Views in the South Seas. Aquatint allowed for softer tonal effects than line engraving alone, while the original hand color added further visual detail to the scene. The subject records a ceremonial and funerary setting, connecting chiefly status, ritual offering, and sacred space in the Society Islands.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
