Kauai Sacred Heiau at Atooi – Captain Cook Voyage Print c.1817 Hawaii

Description

KAUAI, HAWAII – SACRED CEMETERY AT ATOOI

An original copperplate engraving published circa 1817, depicting an ancient sacred burial or ceremonial site on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, formerly known to European navigators as Atooi.

The view presents an enclosed ceremonial area containing several wooden monuments and tall openwork structures. Banana plants and other tropical vegetation rise behind the enclosure, while a traditional thatched building occupies the foreground and the mountainous landscape of Kauai extends across the horizon.

The composition derives from observations made by John Webber, the official artist who accompanied Captain James Cook on his third and final voyage to the Pacific. Cook’s expedition reached the Hawaiian Islands in 1778, with Kauai among the first islands encountered.

European accounts of the period commonly used the term “morai” for Polynesian sacred and burial places. In the Hawaiian context, such ceremonial sites are more accurately described as heiau.

Engraved title: “Cimetière d’Atooi”.

Inscribed “Brion Direxit” at the lower right.

Plate 9 from the third atlas accompanying the “Bibliothèque portative des voyages”, published in the early nineteenth century, circa 1817.

Technique: original copperplate engraving on laid paper.

Dimensions:
– Complete sheet: 15.5 × 12 cm
– Engraved image: 12 × 8.4 cm

Good overall antique condition. A few very light foxing spots and minor age-related marks are visible. Please examine the photograph carefully, as it forms an integral part of the description.

A scarce and historically appealing early view of Kauai, closely associated with Captain Cook’s voyages and the first European records of Hawaiian sacred architecture and religious practices.