This historic and original engraving is from Captain James Cook and George William Anderson's "A New , Authentic , and Complete Account of Voyages Round the World, Undertaken and Performed by Royal Authority..." - see scan of cover page, not included. The work was published in London by Alexander Hogg between 1784 and 1786
The engraving entitled ""View of A Fiatooka or Burying Place on Tongataboo"" is based on the drawing made by John Webber , the official artist on board, when Cook visited the islands on his Third Voyage in 1777. - see account below published by the Royal Museums Greenwich
John Webber was the artist on Cook’s third voyage from 1776-1780.
Cook was in the Friendly Isles from in May of 1777. The ships then went to Tongatapu, Tonga from June 10-July 10, 1777. Tongatapu (also known as Amsterdam) was the largest of the Tongan islands.
The fa'itoka, or burying ground, was described by Cook as a 'wall of stone that enclosed three separate mounts and on each of these mounts stood a house.' This was where the bodies of some of the principal people were interred.
For Webber, the fa'itoka was his first encounter with localburial customs. Burial customs offered clues about the religion of hitherto unknown peoples and contained important information on their material culture. Often drawings associated with death also showed an idealized version of nature, and in Webber's drawing there is a link with Nicolas Poussin's Et in Aracadia Ego which is in the Louvre, as Tonga was certainly an arcadian dream.
Good condition printed on hand-laid paper with minor marks to the borders and an inked plate number just touching the plate line - see scans. Page size 15.5 x 10 inches.
See more engravings from this publication in Seller's Other Items which can be combined for mailing
Note: Another copy of this engraving is currently available on the internet for $2,135