JEWELLERY, DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS AUCTION Tuesday, 2 November 2021 - 10:00 AM start

John Cleverley 4 views from Cook's voyages

Lot Details

after John Cleverley, (the younger) four works pertaining to Captain James Cook's second voyage to the South Seas (1772-1775), two 18thC aquatint engravings c.1790: 'This View of Owhyee one of the Sandwich Islands in the South Seas.' 430 x 620mm, showing the death of Cook in the skirmish at Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii on 14 February 1779, and 'This View of Charlotte Sound in New Zealand in the South Seas'. 430 x 595mm. Together with two original watercolour and ink paintings, one detailed: 'Ext. (Executed) at Mr Martyn's Academy for Painting Natural History': 'Morea one of the Friendly Islands in the South Seas.’ entitled, inscribed and dated London 1799(?), 480 x 650mm: and an untitled version of 'This View of Owhyee one of the Sandwich Islands in the South Seas.' 410 x 575mm. Note: Unlike many other naturalists, who hired artists to produce illustrations for their works, Thomas Martyn (1760-1816) made his own. He was a perfectionist and established a school for boys, teaching them to draw in the same delicate style he preferred. The pictures that were produced are very finely painted, and copies of Martyn’s works were to be found in the library of George IV at his London residence, Carlton House.