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“[S]carcely to be distinguished from the original Drawings.”

This richly colored aquatint presents a sweeping view of the island of Moorea in French Polynesia, with Cook’s ships Resolution and Discovery at anchor beneath the island’s jagged volcanic peaks. The harbor teems with life: double canoes cross the water, timber is hauled ashore, tapa is beaten on the rocks, and trade goods are exchanged between sailors and islanders. Palm trees, thatched structures, and densely wooded ridges rise behind the shoreline, while the sharp, theatrical silhouettes of Mou‘a Ro‘a and Mou‘a Puta anchor the scene in the geography of the Society Islands. The image is carefully composed, balancing local detail with a painterly sense of atmosphere and depth.

This is one of four Pacific views published in London between 1787 and 1788 by Thomas Martyn, a natural historian best known for his Universal Conchologist. Though not part of Cook’s official voyage publications, the series quickly became some of the most widely circulated images of the South Seas. The engravings were made by Francis Jukes after watercolors by John Cleveley the Younger, who was said to have worked from sketches by his brother James Cleveley, a carpenter on Resolution during Cook’s third voyage. Martyn promoted the series as being drawn “on the spot,” and praised their lifelike character as “scarcely to be distinguished from the original Drawings.”

The method evident here, whereby faintly engraved outlines are built into finished works almost exclusively with watercolor, was characteristic of Martyn’s output. His prints were designed to mimic the look and feel of original artwork. In early or proof impressions such as this one, where there is virtually no aquatinting, the hand coloring is applied with such care that the result closely resembles a watercolor drawing. The intention was to blur the line between print and painting, presenting a scene that could pass as a firsthand visual document.

The Cleveley Question

The authenticity of the original sketches has been the subject of debate. In their major survey of Cook voyage art, Joppien and Smith (vol. III, pp. 216–221) rejected the idea that James Cleveley supplied original field drawings, describing the prints instead as studio inventions by John, composed from existing voyage narratives and published sources. But the matter is not settled. A set of four original Cleveley watercolors, preserved with 18th-century inscriptions attributing the views to James Cleveley, and sold at Christie's in 2004 for £318,850, supports Martyn’s published claim that the drawings were taken from life. His 1788 prospectus even invited purchasers to verify the matter directly with James, “now living at Greenwich.”

Whether based on direct observation or not, A View in Moorea is a striking example of how the Pacific was visualized for British audiences in the years immediately following Cook’s death. It offers a vision of harmonious encounter and industrious exchange, staged within a tropical paradise and executed with painterly finesse. Sold individually and not bound into any official voyage account, the Martyn-Jukes-Cleveley prints stand apart as early examples of aquatint used to render the Pacific in full color. Their influence on the visual memory of Cook’s voyages was considerable, shaping perceptions of Polynesia long after the expedition had returned home.