In the process of prepping a special series on first contacts (which will launch next week), Microkhan recently became acquainted with the work of John Webber, an English painter best known for accompanying Captain James Cook to Hawaii. Fortunately for us, Webber did not share Cook’s bummer of fate, and went on to create some truly memorable images of 18th-century Alaska and its indigenous residents. Given our longtime interest in the history of tattoing and piercing, Webber’s illustrated study of the practices in the Aleutian Islands is gold.
Plenty more of Webber’s work is available here; of particular note is his rendering of Cook’s arrival in Hawaii, where the captain was initially greeted warmly before matters went terribly awry.
And stay tuned for Microkhan’s “First Contact” series. You know you want it.
First Contact: The Dena’ina // May 13, 2009 at 11:01 am
[…] primary-source accounts of accidental culture clashes. We hinted at this series last week, when we shouted out the work of John Webber. That’s his work at the top of this post, too—an antique illustration from his series […]