Description
No. 13 in Fanshawe's Pacific album, 1849 - 52. A fold-out panoramic drawing of Tahiti, on two joined sheets, the right one stuck down to the album page and captioned by the artist below the image, as title. The view is of the north-west aspect of the island, with Papeete below the central ravine and Fanshawe's 'Daphne' to the left. Fanshawe described the view as follows: 'On the 21st [August] at daylight we were four miles to windward [north-east] of the entrance of Papeiti harbour; we looked at the deep gorge that looks to Fautaua, and discloses the Crown Mountain (la Diadème), a perpendicular serrated rock in the middle of the island. The view as the sun throws all the ravines into light and shade is extremely beautiful. We got a French pilot and anchored at Papeiti before 10. Here is tropical scenery in its glory, bright green fringes on the sea-shore of cocoa-nut trees, bread fruit and oranges; the deepest blue sea outside the reefs and the most delicate green inside, separated by a line of brilliant white surf as far as the eye can reach on either side; the thatched high-pitched roofs and low whitewashed walls of the houses of the Europeans round the shore or peeping out from the cluster of trees, and the bold mountains rising behind, altogether form a scene beautiful indeed, and rendered cheerful by the groups of natives in their bright yellow and red garments' (Fanshawe [1904] p.195). From an album of watercolours of Madeira, Brazil, the Falkland and Pacific Islands, Chile, Panama, Mexico, Vancouver, and California. It covers Fanshawe's commission in command of HMS 'Daphne' 1848-52, on the Pacific station based at Valparaiso, Chile, under Rear-Admiral Phipps Hornby in the 84-gun 'Asia'. The earliest dated drawing is of Madeira, 1 January 1849 on the way out, and the last of Cape Horn on the return, 28 May 1852. For further details, see collection online record.
Image Licence
CC BY-NC-ND
Image Credit
© National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London
Location
Pape'ete, French Polynesia
Country
French Polynesia
Medium
Watercolour
Tags
Category
Landscapes & Seascapes
