Sign In

A Rare Aquatint Engraving of Hawaii and the Death of Cook  

A famous and rare aquatint view of the final moments of the life of Captain James Cook.

This image depicts the death of Captain Cook, while English sailors in rowboats fire at natives on the shore. The image captures Cook attempting to have his men cease fire, as a Hawaiian chieftain is about to stab him in the back. 

Cook's death in Hawaii is one of the iconic images of the 18th Century. Cook was killed in Hawaii on February 14, 1779. He and his men spent the two months on the Big Island and had been well received. They departed in early February 1779 but returned due to storms and the need for ship repairs. The second reception turned hostile, and tensions between the sailors and the natives increased. When Cook went ashore to investigate, a scuffle occurred and Cook was killed.

One of a set of four very rare aquatint views relating to Cook's Third Voyage, the present print is an example of the European fascination with Pacific exploration during the eighteenth century. Joppien and Smith call the set "the kind of prints that anyone who travelled with Cook, whether officer, midshipman or able seaman, might want to possess to remind him and his family of the days when he travelled with Cook."

According to both the publisher's prospectus and the print caption itself, the four views were produced "on the spot" by James Cleveley, a carpenter aboard the Resolution, and "redrawn and inimitably painted in water-colors by his brother . . . John Cleveley, and from which the plates were engraved, in the best manner by Mr. Jukes." 

Despite the attribution to James Cleveley, the absence of any surviving drawings by Cleveley caused Joppien and Smith to discount this claim, believing that the kinship between the two brothers was, as far as these images are concerned, coincidental, being simply used to promote the prints. Instead they asserted that John Cleveley made use of his connection with Sir Joseph Banks to gain access to the drawings of John Webber (Cook’s official artist on the third voyage). John Cleveley had been chosen as part of Banks’ team on Cook’s second voyage, however following the Admiralty’s refusal to adapt the Resolution to his requirements, Banks abandoned his plans to return to the Pacific and took Cleveley as his official draughtsman on a tour of Iceland. It is worth remembering however that James Cleveley was not only the brother of artists (John and his twin Robert), but also the son of one too (another John), so it would not seem surprising if he had picked up some sketching skills before he set out with Cook.

John Cleveley was a talented maritime painter, and this image, engraved by Francis Jukes, a pioneer of the aquatint technique, is an important visual representation of early contact between Europeans and Pacific islanders.  The French version of the series, issued just a year later, include lengthy captions describing each scene and placing it in relation to Cook's third voyage.  The original set of four comprised the present view of Hawaii, two views in Tahiti and one view in New Zealand, the Death of Cook image being by far the most important of the four views.

The set of four was originally offered at two guineas with "proof, or first impressions, 18s each." Interestingly, the prospectus indicates that Martyn's Academy would execute "A certain number of these excellent views, in a Style entirely new, so as scarcely to be distinguishable from the original Drawings [at a cost of] One Guinea and a half each." Consequently we know the views were made available individually as well as a set.

Aquatint Engraving and Francis Jukes

Aquatint engraving, a printmaking technique that creates tonal effects similar to watercolor washes, was not invented by a single person but developed over time. The technique is often credited to Jean-Baptiste Le Prince, a French artist who is considered one of the early practitioners in the 1760s. Le Prince perfected aquatint by using powdered resin to achieve the distinctive tonal qualities of the process. Francis Jukes, a British engraver active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries who engraved this Death of Cook view, played a significant role in popularizing aquatint in Britain. While he did not invent the technique, Jukes was an influential figure in using aquatint for landscape prints. His work often depicted picturesque scenes of Britain, as well as exotic locations, making aquatint a popular medium for capturing the subtleties of light and shadow. Jukes's contributions helped establish aquatint as a favored technique among British artists and printmakers during the late 18th century.

Rarity

Cleveley's view is among the finest of the views of Cook's death and perhaps the rarest.  

There is also a French edition of the Clevely view, entitled Mort du Capitaine Cook, which is also extremely rare.