Tahiti / Otaheite, Polynesia
1784, first edition atlas from Captain Cook’s third and final voyage
Copper plate engraving
24 × 20 in. including archival mat (61 × 50.8 cm)
Provenance: Randy Nagatani, Honolulu, HI; Lahaina Printsellers, Maui, HI
This copper plate engraving after John Webber depicts a dance at Otaheite, the historical European name for Tahiti. Published in 1784 in the first edition atlas from Captain Cook’s third and final voyage, the image belongs to the official visual record of the expedition. Webber’s Pacific subjects helped shape European understanding of Tahitian social life, ceremony, dress, and performance.
The composition presents figures gathered in a formal dance scene, with attention given to posture, costume, and the surrounding setting. Copper plate engraving translated Webber’s original field observations into a printed image intended for wide circulation among readers of Cook’s voyage. As a historical print, it documents both Tahitian ceremonial performance as recorded by European observers and the 18th-century print culture through which Pacific imagery reached Europe.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Tahiti / Otaheite, Polynesia
1784, first edition atlas from Captain Cook’s third and final voyage
Copper plate engraving
24 × 20 in. including archival mat (61 × 50.8 cm)
Provenance: Randy Nagatani, Honolulu, HI; Lahaina Printsellers, Maui, HI
This copper plate engraving after John Webber depicts a dance at Otaheite, the historical European name for Tahiti. Published in 1784 in the first edition atlas from Captain Cook’s third and final voyage, the image belongs to the official visual record of the expedition. Webber’s Pacific subjects helped shape European understanding of Tahitian social life, ceremony, dress, and performance.
The composition presents figures gathered in a formal dance scene, with attention given to posture, costume, and the surrounding setting. Copper plate engraving translated Webber’s original field observations into a printed image intended for wide circulation among readers of Cook’s voyage. As a historical print, it documents both Tahitian ceremonial performance as recorded by European observers and the 18th-century print culture through which Pacific imagery reached Europe.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
