Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami

A Larger View (By Another Artist) of That Celebrated Natural Curiosity, the Perforated Rock, in Tolaga Bay, in New Zealand

Artist/Maker Gerald Sibelius (The Netherlands, 1734-1785)

Artist/Maker Herman Diedrich Spöring (Finland, 1733-1771)

Date1784-1786

Mediumengraving

DimensionsSheet: 9 3/4 x 14 1/4 in. (24.8 x 36.2 cm)

ClassificationsVisual Works

Credit LineGift of Drs. Ann and Robert Walzer

Terms

Object number2004.50.9.9

On View

Not on view

Collections

Art of Europe

DescriptionThe other artist referred to in the title of this print is Herman Diedrich Spöring (ca. 1733-1771), the Swedish-born secretary who accompanied Banks on Cook’s first voyage. An amateur artist, Spöring made numerous drawings for Banks including a pencil sketch executed in October of 1769 at Tolaga Bay, New Zealand. Banks, whose primary interest was botany and documenting the flora and fauna of the Pacific, described the arched rock as, “… certainly the most magnificent surprise I have ever met with so much is pure nature superior to art in these cases.” Spöring’s image was re-drawn by others, including Parkinson, and in the original engraving by John James Barralet (Irish, 1747-1815) that appears in Hawkesworth, figures were added to enhance the landscape. A native figure wrapped in a cloth leads two European men along a path to the left. He faces the viewer, holding out his hand as if offering the natural wonder of New Zealand to the viewer. Another Maori man walks along the opposite shore carrying a long fishing spear, while the Endeavor’s pinnace can be seen sailing in the bay. Barralet’s inclusion of figures in this unusual landscape served not only as a visual aid to better describe the grandeur of the sublime perforated rock, but also as an indicator of the perceived status of the relationship between the British and the native Maori. Hogg’s version, by the Dutch engraver, Gerald Sibelius (1734-1785), is a close reproduction.