457922
- TitleDrawings relating to Cook’s 3rd Voyage attributed to John Cleveley from sketches made by his brother James, and painted c. 1786
- Call numberDGD 27
- Level of descriptionfonds
- Date
ca. 1786 - Type of material
- Reference code457922
- Issue CopyDigitised
- Physical DescriptionDrawings - 7 watercolours pasted down on card -
watercolours pasted down on card - various sizes, views approx. 31.3 x 46 cm. (smallest) to 44 x 60.3 cm. (largest) on sheets approx. 34.2 x 47.2 cm. (smallest) to 44.6 x 62 cm. (largest) - Scope and Content1. The Resolution and Discovery anchored at the Nore, June 15, 1776 (possibly). 39.4 x 57.9 cm. (view) on sheet 40.6 x 58.7 cm.
2. The Resolution anchored in the Down, June 26, 1776 (possibly). 41.2 x 56.5 cm (view) on sheet 41.9 x 58.1 cm.
3. The Resolution and Discovery anchored in Plymouth Sound, June 30, 1776 (possibly). 40.4 x 56.8 cm. (view) on sheet 41.2 x 58.1 cm.
4. View in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, New Zealand. 43.2 x 60.7 cm. (view) on sheet 44.8 x 61.9 cm.
5. View of Huaheine, one of the Society Islands. 43.8 x 60.3 cm. (view) on sheet 44.8 x 61.2 cm.
6. View of Morea, or Eimeo, Society Islands. 43.8 x 60.3 cm. (view) on sheet 44.8 x 61.2 cm.
7. Captain Cook landing at Owyhee (Hawaii). 32.7 x 46 cm. (view) on sheet 34.3 x 47.3 cm. - Copying ConditionsOut of copyright: Artist died before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales - General note
ML Pictures catalogue notes compiled c.1969, transferred to online catalogue 2008:
The above descriptions are from the Public Library of NSW Bibliography of Capt. Cook, 1928, p.70 entry 2. The drawings are untitled and it is not now possible to say for certain which is which of the first 3 listed. Folio 1 is signed ‘Is Green’ and the fortifications appear to have some similarity with views of Sheerness, near the Nore (see D. P. Capper - Moat Defensive opp. p.116 and p.212). Folio 2 shows white cliffs which are characteristic of a large area, of which the Downs are a part. The location of folio 3 cannot be satisfactorily checked. G. B. Naish, Asst. Director of the National Maritime Museum is of the opinion (1959) that the ships are not the Resolution and Discovery (see PXn 166).
The remaining four are similar to four aquatints from drawings on the spot by James Cleveley, painted by John Cleveley, Jukes aquatt., pub. by T. Martyn 1787-1788 and to another set of 4 by Piringer for which see separate entries for each view under Cleveley, James, except that folio 7 shows Capt. Cook leaving his vessel for the shore, just before the attack which resulted in his death, while the published plate shows the attack itself, taken from the same angle. For what are thought to be 2 of the sketches by James, in the possession of S. F. Sabin, 1958, see PXn 163.
For photographs and notes on 4 similar watercolours in the possession of Mrs. Upcher 1958 see PXn 164. For yet another set of four watercolours, slightly bigger in scale than the prints by Jukes and probably copies of the prints and filed at DG XV* Cook/12-15, see separate entry under Cleveley, James.
Folio 4 (Queen Charlotte Sd) is inscribed at lower right ‘Har---Coppy’. Below this there is a part of a cut off word. The remaining letters could be ‘l’ and possibly ‘e’ (perhaps ‘Cleveley’?). The view is very close in most details to the aquatint by Jukes and to Mrs. Upcher’s watercolour by John Cleveley titled ‘Otaheite, Society Islands’. It is also larger in scale than the prints by Jukes and Piringer which show slightly more foreground, while to the right they show the complete hut and beyond. For the identification of the location see entries relating to the Jukes aquatint.
Folio 5 (Huaheine) and 6 (Morea) are very close in most details to the aquatint by Jukes and to Mrs. Upcher’s watercolour by John Cleveley titled ‘Otaheite, Society Islands’, but folio 6, like Mr. Sabin’s sketch and like Mrs. Upcher’s watercolour, shows an extra figure in the lower left foreground and is signed ‘W. H.’ lower left corner. A note by H. Wright, Mitchell Librarian, 1932 on wrapper of the watercolours is filed at DG D 27, f.8, a typed copy at PXn 167. Notes by P. Mander Jones 1956 are filed at PXn 165. Folios 4, 5, and 7 lent for exhibition Grands voiliers autour du monde, 1962.
[Handwritten annotation to catalogue card:] Cannot find any particular reason for date c1786 except that aquatints pub 1787
Dimensions converted to metric from ML Pictures card catalogue
Digital order no:Album ID : 949522 - Attributions / conjectures
It is questionable whether these watercolours attributed to John Cleveley are based on sketches made by his brother James Cleveley (ship’s carpenter on Cook’s third voyage), or were devised by John (a professional artist who never travelled to the Pacific) from other visual sources. The only evidence of James ever producing drawings is the attribution to him published in the prospectus and captions for four aquatint prints after these images, engraved by Jukes and published by T. Martyn, 1787-1788.
References:
James Cleveley, Dictionary of Australian Artists Online (http://www.daao.org.au/main/read/1692)
`The Cleveley problem' in: The art of Captain Cook's voyages / Rudiger Joppien and Bernard Smith. Melbourne : Oxford University Press in association with the Australian Academy of the Humanities, 1985-1987. v.3, pp.216-221
For a summary of related images (drawings and engravings relating to Cook’s 3rd Voyage made by James and John Cleveley), see PXn 162 - Creator/Author/Artist
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