Tongataboo, Tonga, Polynesia
1784
Copper plate engraving after John Webber
24 x 20 in. including archival mat
61 x 50.8 cm including archival mat
Provenance: Randy Nagatani, Honolulu, Hawaii; Lahaina Printsellers, Maui, Hawaii
This copper plate engraving is titled Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands, drinking Kava. It comes from the first edition atlas of Captain Cook’s third and final voyage, published in 1784, with the image after John Webber. The scene shows Poulaho in a formal Tongan setting, recording kava drinking as part of chiefly and ceremonial life in the Friendly Islands, the historical European name for Tonga.
Webber served as official artist on Cook’s third voyage, producing images that shaped European visual knowledge of the Pacific. The engraving records architecture, gathering, rank, and ritual through the controlled line work of late 18th-century expedition publishing. As a Cook voyage print, it connects Tongan chiefly culture with one of the major published visual records of Pacific exploration.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Tongataboo, Tonga, Polynesia
1784
Copper plate engraving after John Webber
24 x 20 in. including archival mat
61 x 50.8 cm including archival mat
Provenance: Randy Nagatani, Honolulu, Hawaii; Lahaina Printsellers, Maui, Hawaii
This copper plate engraving is titled Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands, drinking Kava. It comes from the first edition atlas of Captain Cook’s third and final voyage, published in 1784, with the image after John Webber. The scene shows Poulaho in a formal Tongan setting, recording kava drinking as part of chiefly and ceremonial life in the Friendly Islands, the historical European name for Tonga.
Webber served as official artist on Cook’s third voyage, producing images that shaped European visual knowledge of the Pacific. The engraving records architecture, gathering, rank, and ritual through the controlled line work of late 18th-century expedition publishing. As a Cook voyage print, it connects Tongan chiefly culture with one of the major published visual records of Pacific exploration.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
