• Title
  [Death of Captain Cook, ca. 1784] / possibly by John Webber
• Creator
  John Webber, 1752-1793
• Call number
  DG 26
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  [ca. 1781-83?]
• Type of material
  Graphic Materials, Paintings
• Reference code
  457558
• Issue Copy
  Digitised
• Physical Description
  1 painting - oil on canvas - 83.5 x 109.5 cm. (sight) in frame 109 x 145 cm.
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  In 1776, John Webber (1752-1793) was appointed topographical artist on the Resolution and sailed with James Cook on the third voyage, 1776-1780.
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• Copying Conditions
  Out of copyright: Creator died before 1955
  Please acknowledge:: Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales
• General note
  
  In 1781 Webber announced that he intended to publish an engraving of the death of Captain Cook, to be engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi. He advertised that the 'Drawing was taken on the Spot; the Landscape is from Nature; and the Circumstances of that most unfortunate Event (of which Mr. Webber was an Eye-Witness) are told with the utmost Fidelity." St James Chronicle or the British Evening Post, April 12 1781.
  The engraving was published in 1784 as The Death of Captain Cook: see DL Pf 61 for a version of this engraving in the Library's collection.
  It is unclear if this painting is the basis of the engraving, or if it was made after the engraving, as a copy of it. Webber exhibited and sold a number of oils relating to Pacific voyages after his return to London, but there is no reference to this work: see the Getty Research Institute provenance index https://www.getty.edu/research/tools/provenance/search.html.
  It is possible that this painting is a copy by an unknown artist of Webber's print. Stylistically it does not seem to accord with the quality of Webber's known and confirmed works. This question remains open.
  Digital order no:Album ID : 846251
• Signatures / Inscriptions
  
  Work is unsigned and undated.
• Conservation note
  
  Cleaned Jan 2008
  Frame repaired following minor damage, 2011
• Subject
  Cook, James, 1728-1779.
  
• Topic
  death & dying (humans)
  Hawaiians
  naval officers
  rowing boats
  weapons
  
• Place
  Kealakekua Bay (Hawaii)
  
• Exhibited in
  
  Terra Australis : the furthest shore - Art Gallery of New South Wales (27 July - 9 October, 1988)
  People and Places - State Library of New South Wales (January, 1979 - December, 1979)
  Possessed : an exhibition of treasures - State Library of New South Wales (March, 1997 - June, 1997)
  Swiss Artists in Australia : 1777-1991 - Art Gallery of New South Wales (January, 1991 - March, 1991)
  Cook & Omai : the cult of the South Seas - National Library of Australia (February, 2001 - June, 2001)
  Le Mystere Laperouse : enquete dans le Pacifique Sud - Musee Nationale de la Marine
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE3234851

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