Tongataboo, Tonga, Polynesia
1784
Copper plate engraving after John Webber
18 x 24 in. mat; image 11 1/2 x 19 in.
45.7 x 61 cm mat; image 29.2 x 48.3 cm
Provenance: Randy Nagatani, Honolulu, Hawaii
From the atlas of Captain Cook’s third voyage, this engraving depicts the Natche, a ceremony held in honor of the son of a Tongan ruler at Tongataboo. The scene is associated with the son of Fatafehi Paulaho, the Tu‘i Tonga, whose position carried sacred authority within Tongan chiefly structure. Images from Cook’s voyages became a central visual record of Pacific ceremonies, social order, and encounter in the late 18th century.
The engraving is after John Webber, the official artist on Cook’s third voyage, whose work shaped European visual knowledge of the Pacific. The composition records ceremonial gathering, gesture, and rank through the formal language of copper plate engraving. As a Cook voyage print, it connects Tongan cultural history with one of the most widely circulated bodies of Pacific exploration imagery.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Tongataboo, Tonga, Polynesia
1784
Copper plate engraving after John Webber
18 x 24 in. mat; image 11 1/2 x 19 in.
45.7 x 61 cm mat; image 29.2 x 48.3 cm
Provenance: Randy Nagatani, Honolulu, Hawaii
From the atlas of Captain Cook’s third voyage, this engraving depicts the Natche, a ceremony held in honor of the son of a Tongan ruler at Tongataboo. The scene is associated with the son of Fatafehi Paulaho, the Tu‘i Tonga, whose position carried sacred authority within Tongan chiefly structure. Images from Cook’s voyages became a central visual record of Pacific ceremonies, social order, and encounter in the late 18th century.
The engraving is after John Webber, the official artist on Cook’s third voyage, whose work shaped European visual knowledge of the Pacific. The composition records ceremonial gathering, gesture, and rank through the formal language of copper plate engraving. As a Cook voyage print, it connects Tongan cultural history with one of the most widely circulated bodies of Pacific exploration imagery.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
