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Original 1777 copperplate engraving depicting a Polynesian woman from the Marquesas Islands, produced for the official account of Captain James Cook’s Second Voyage of Exploration (1772–1775).
Titled “Woman of Sta. Christina,” this historical portrait was engraved by John Hall after artwork by William Hodges (1744–1797), the expedition artist who accompanied Captain Cook aboard HMS Resolution.
The subject is a woman from Santa Christina, now known as Tahuata, one of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. Cook visited the Marquesas during his second Pacific expedition in 1774.
Published February 1, 1777, in London by William Strahan and Thomas Cadell, the engraving appeared in A Voyage Towards the South Pole, and Round the World.
Details:
* Title: Woman of Sta. Christina
* Date: 1777
* Artist: William Hodges (1744–1797)
* Engraver: John Hall
* Subject: Polynesian woman, Marquesas Islands
* Expedition: Captain James Cook’s Second Voyage
* Medium: Copperplate engraving
* Approximate sheet dimensions: 11½ × 9 inches
* Presentation: Mounted with dark green matting
Condition:
Very good overall antique condition, with age-related toning and scattered foxing. Fine engraved details remain clearly visible. The original printed title is present along the lower margin.
An exceptional piece of 18th-century Pacific exploration history, representing early European documentation of the Indigenous peoples of the Marquesas Islands.
Please examine all photographs for condition, engraved details, and presentation.
