Hawaiian Islands / Sandwich Islands
1784, first edition atlas from Captain Cook's Third Voyage
Copper plate engraving by John Webber
Archival mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Provenance: Randy Nagatani, Honolulu, HI; Lahaina Printsellers, Maui, HI
This copper plate engraving by John Webber depicts an offering before Captain Cook in the Sandwich Islands, from the first edition atlas of Cook's third and final voyage, published in 1784. The scene records a ceremonial exchange between Cook and Hawaiian figures that became one of the most discussed and interpreted episodes of the entire voyage; Webber's depiction of it, engraved under his supervision for the Admiralty's official account, established the visual terms through which this encounter entered European historical memory. Cook was killed in Hawai'i in February 1779, and images of his reception there carried particular weight in the publications that followed.
The composition presents the offering as a formal encounter, with the arrangement of figures emphasizing gesture, rank, and the space between parties. As one of the most historically weighted plates in the Cook voyage atlas, it occupies a distinct position within the body of Hawaiian printed material from this period. The Randy Nagatani and Lahaina Printsellers provenance adds a documented Hawaiian collecting history.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Hawaiian Islands / Sandwich Islands
1784, first edition atlas from Captain Cook's Third Voyage
Copper plate engraving by John Webber
Archival mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)
Provenance: Randy Nagatani, Honolulu, HI; Lahaina Printsellers, Maui, HI
This copper plate engraving by John Webber depicts an offering before Captain Cook in the Sandwich Islands, from the first edition atlas of Cook's third and final voyage, published in 1784. The scene records a ceremonial exchange between Cook and Hawaiian figures that became one of the most discussed and interpreted episodes of the entire voyage; Webber's depiction of it, engraved under his supervision for the Admiralty's official account, established the visual terms through which this encounter entered European historical memory. Cook was killed in Hawai'i in February 1779, and images of his reception there carried particular weight in the publications that followed.
The composition presents the offering as a formal encounter, with the arrangement of figures emphasizing gesture, rank, and the space between parties. As one of the most historically weighted plates in the Cook voyage atlas, it occupies a distinct position within the body of Hawaiian printed material from this period. The Randy Nagatani and Lahaina Printsellers provenance adds a documented Hawaiian collecting history.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
