A View of Karakaooa in Owyhee engraving
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineOriginal ink/wash painting on which the engraving is based was done by John Webber.
Engraved by Taylor
Alex Hogg, London, 1784--Folio size
Object numberART.14
DescriptionThe original publications of the Cook's voyages took several years for the artists to complete the engraved plates and get the quality hand made paper for the engravings. The original publication in 1784 sold out in a wee, with 2nd and 3rd editions issued.Also in 1784 Alex Hogg, London, published an edition that included larger "folio" sized engraved images. This image is western man's first image of surfing with a surfer paddling towards a ship in the lower left. This Hogg edition used hand made watermarked "laid" paper, a higher quality paper than normal but not as high as quality as used in the previous editions published in London in the same year.
Further research published in 2008 shows that there is a second surfboard in this engraving. The man standing on the beach in the lower right has a surfboard at his feet on the sand (it's not his shadow). This is based on a careful review of the original in/wash painting by John Webber from which the engraving was based.
On View
Not on view
