Hawaiian Islands / Owhyhee
Paris, 1794
Copper plate engraving
Mat: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm); image: 5½ × 7½ in. (14 × 19.1 cm)
Provenance: Donald Angus, Honolulu, HI
This copper plate engraving depicts Winée, identified in the French title as Winée, naturelle d’Owhyhée, or a woman native to Hawai‘i. The image was published in the French edition of John Meares’ voyage account, documenting travel across the Pacific Northwest, China, and Hawai‘i in the late eighteenth century. Winée’s story is closely tied to the maritime world of the Pacific, including her passage aboard the British ship Imperial Eagle and her later death in Canton.
The portrait reflects the European practice of recording Indigenous Pacific figures through engraved voyage illustration. Its restrained format presents the sitter as an individual subject rather than as part of a landscape or ceremonial scene. The Donald Angus provenance gives the work a Honolulu collecting history, strengthening its connection to Hawaiian material and printed culture.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
Hawaiian Islands / Owhyhee
Paris, 1794
Copper plate engraving
Mat: 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm); image: 5½ × 7½ in. (14 × 19.1 cm)
Provenance: Donald Angus, Honolulu, HI
This copper plate engraving depicts Winée, identified in the French title as Winée, naturelle d’Owhyhée, or a woman native to Hawai‘i. The image was published in the French edition of John Meares’ voyage account, documenting travel across the Pacific Northwest, China, and Hawai‘i in the late eighteenth century. Winée’s story is closely tied to the maritime world of the Pacific, including her passage aboard the British ship Imperial Eagle and her later death in Canton.
The portrait reflects the European practice of recording Indigenous Pacific figures through engraved voyage illustration. Its restrained format presents the sitter as an individual subject rather than as part of a landscape or ceremonial scene. The Donald Angus provenance gives the work a Honolulu collecting history, strengthening its connection to Hawaiian material and printed culture.
We ship free anywhere in the world, fully insured, packed by hand.
