A Woman of Eaoo

This engraving is after a drawing by John Webber from John Hawkesworth's account (1773) of the voyages of Captain James Cook, Joseph Banks and Captain John Byron.

Captain James Cook (1728-1779) made three separate voyages to the Pacific (with the ships Endeavour, Resolution, Adventure, and Discovery) and did more than any other voyager to explore the Pacific and Southern Ocean. Cook not only encountered Pacific cultures for the first time, but also assembled the first large-scale collections of Pacific objects to be brought back to Europe. He was killed in Hawaii in 1779.

John Webber was the artist on Cook’s third voyage from 1776-1780.

Cook was in Eua (also known as Middleburg), Tonga from the 12th-17th of July, 1777.
Thomas Edgar, Master of the Discovery, wrote of the island that it 'affords some of the most romantic and beautiful valleys in the world... there is great abundance of every thing for it's inhabitants the walks are enchanting and the whole island is a little paradise.'

No drawing of Euan landscape by Webber has survived.

On July 16 Webber did complete a pencil and wash drawing of a young woman with long hair, bare breasts and a double necklace composed of pearls or berries. That Eua was represented by a woman may have been due to the fact that so far in the 'official' programme a portrait of a woman of Tonga was lacking. The beauty of the woman was often commented upon and Clerke stated that 'these people . . . surpass in beauty every Nation I ever yet met with."

Loosely bound in album with PAI3893-PAI3904, PAI3906-PAI3936.; Plate No.23.

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ID:	PAI3905
Type:	Print
Display location:	Not on display
Creator:	Hall, John; Webber, John
Places:	Eua Island
Date made:	1777
Credit:	National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Measurements:	Plate: 290 x 223 mm; Sheet: 535 x 390 mm
Parts:	Illustrations of Cooks Voyages (Album) Chart of the English Channel, showing Cornwall and Brittany (Drawing) (PAI3893) A Man of Van Diemen's Land (Print) (PAI3894) A Woman of Van Diemen's Land (with a child) (Print) (PAI3895) A Opossum of Van Diemen's Land (Print) (PAI3896) The Inside of a Hippah, in New Zealand (Print) (PAI3897) A Man of Mangea (Print) (PAI3898) The Reception of Captain Cook, in Hapaee (Print) (PAI3899) A Boxing Match, in Hapaee (Print) (PAI3900) Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands (Print) (PAI3901) Poulaho, King of the Friendly Islands, drinking Kava (Print) (PAI3902) A Fiatooka, or Morai, in Tongataboo (Print) (PAI3903) The Natche, a Ceremony in Harbour of the King's Son, in Tongataboo (Print) (PAI3904) A Woman of Eaoo (Print) (PAI3905) The Body of Tee, a Chief, as preserved after Death, in Otaheite (Print) (PAI3906) A Dance in Otaheite (Print) (PAI3907) A Young Woman of Otaheite, Dancing (Print) (PAI3908) A Morai, in Atooi (Print) (PAI3909) The Inside of the House, in the Morai, in Atooi (Print) (PAI3910) A Man of Nootka Sound (Print) (PAI3911) A Woman of Nootka Sound (Print) (PAI3912) Various Articles, at Nootka Sound (Print) (PAI3913) A View of the Habitations in Nootka Sound (Print) (PAI3914) The Inside of a House in Nootka Sound (Print) (PAI3915) A Sea Otter (Print) (PAI3916) A View of Snug Corner Cove, in Prince William's Sound (Print) (PAI3917) A Man of Prince William's Sound (Eskimo) (Print) (PAI3918) A Woman of Prince William's Sound (Eskimo) (Print) (PAI3919) A Man of Oonalashka (Eskimo) (Print) (PAI3920) A Woman of Oonalaska (Eskimo) (Print) (PAI3921) Canoes of Oonalashka (in Alaska) (Print) (PAI3922) The Tschuktschi, and their Habitations (Print) (PAI3923) Inhabitations of Norton Sound, and their Habitations (Print) (PAI3924) Caps of Natives of Oonalashka (Print) (PAI3925) Natives of Oonalashka, and their Habitations (Print) (PAI3926) The Inside of a House, in Oonalashka (Print) (PAI3927) A Man of the Sandwich Islands, dancing (Print) (PAI3928) A Man of the Sandwich Islands, in a Mask (Print) (PAI3929) A Man of Kamtschatka, travelling in Winter (Print) (PAI3930) A Sledge of Kamtschatka (Print) (PAI3931) A View of Bolcheretzkoi, in Kamtschatka (Print) (PAI3932) A Man of Kamtschatka (Print) (PAI3933) A Woman of Kamtschatka (Print) (PAI3934) Summer and Winter Habitations, in Kamtschatka (Print) (PAI3935) The Inside of a Winter Habitation, in Kamtschatka (Print) (PAI3936)

A Woman of Eaoo

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