細節
Pitcairn Island, Pacific
Rear-Admiral Frederick William Beechey (1796-1856) - a Late-Polynesian stone adze, 15.4cm. long, chipped and ground from volcanic rock, early label with ink inscription Pitcairn's Island Ancient, contained in a modern cloth box, titled on lid Beechey's Stone Adze found at Pitcairn Island 1825 used by the 'Bounty' mutineers.
Provenance: Frederick Beechey (collected on Pitcairn Island in 1825, presented to:) The Royal United Services Institution (Official Catalogue no.523, sale Wallis & Wallis, 8-10 December 1965, lot 886 [part lot], sold 4.0.0 to:); L. Hubbard.
The adze was collected by Beechey during the course of his four-year voyage on the Blossom. He had taken command of the vessel in January 1825 and was despatched with orders to link up with Sir John Franklin, and to carry out scientific and exploratory work in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Strait. After rounding Cape Horn, Beechey arrived at Pitcairn Island on 5 December 1825. The population of the island numbered 66, including two recent settlers and the last of the original Bounty mutineers John Adams (ne Alexander Smith). Beechey described the finding of the adze in his account of the voyage: 'The following day was devoted to the completion of our view of the island... We accordingly set out with the same guides by a road which brought us to "the Rope," a steep cliff so called from its being necessary to descend it by rope. It is situated at the eastern end of the island, and overlooks a small sandy bay lined with rocks, which render it dangerous for a boat to attempt to land there. At the foot of "the Rope" were found some stone axes, and a hone, the manufacture of the aborigines... The hachets... were made of a compact basaltic lava, not unlike clinkstone, very hard and capable of a fine polish.' (Narrative of a Voyage.., 1831, vol.I, pp.112-113). Adams also provided Beechey with a lengthy first-hand account of events on the Bounty and the mutineers subsequent history. Beechey left Pitcairn on 21 December and continued to the Bering Strait to await Franklin. Unknowingly they got to within 160 miles of each other before the weather forced Franklin to turn back. In October 1826 Beechey was himself forced to retreat before the advancing winter and returned to the Pacific. By the beginning of August 1827 he was back in Arctic waters, but once again, with no sign of Franklin, left at the beginning of October and returned home via Cape Horn. Beechey's account of the Pitcairn islanders, prompted Sir John Barrow to publish his best-selling History of the mutiny of the "Bounty" in the same year.
A comparison has been made with the various types of adzes described by R. Duff in an article in F.D. Feeman's Anthropology in the South Seas (1958, see pp.121-147). The present example is closest to Duff type D ("Triangular chisel") from the South Island New Zealand and elsewhere, but is also similar to 3G (from Ra'ivavae Australs and elsewhere) and 3C (Pitcairn). Type 3 is late Polynesian and is heavily represented in the Society Islands, poorly represented in New Zealand, Pitcairn and Hawaii, and unknown at Rapa, Mangareva and Easter Island.
Rear-Admiral Frederick William Beechey (1796-1856) - a Late-Polynesian stone adze, 15.4cm. long, chipped and ground from volcanic rock, early label with ink inscription Pitcairn's Island Ancient, contained in a modern cloth box, titled on lid Beechey's Stone Adze found at Pitcairn Island 1825 used by the 'Bounty' mutineers.
Provenance: Frederick Beechey (collected on Pitcairn Island in 1825, presented to:) The Royal United Services Institution (Official Catalogue no.523, sale Wallis & Wallis, 8-10 December 1965, lot 886 [part lot], sold 4.0.0 to:); L. Hubbard.
The adze was collected by Beechey during the course of his four-year voyage on the Blossom. He had taken command of the vessel in January 1825 and was despatched with orders to link up with Sir John Franklin, and to carry out scientific and exploratory work in the Pacific Ocean and Bering Strait. After rounding Cape Horn, Beechey arrived at Pitcairn Island on 5 December 1825. The population of the island numbered 66, including two recent settlers and the last of the original Bounty mutineers John Adams (ne Alexander Smith). Beechey described the finding of the adze in his account of the voyage: 'The following day was devoted to the completion of our view of the island... We accordingly set out with the same guides by a road which brought us to "the Rope," a steep cliff so called from its being necessary to descend it by rope. It is situated at the eastern end of the island, and overlooks a small sandy bay lined with rocks, which render it dangerous for a boat to attempt to land there. At the foot of "the Rope" were found some stone axes, and a hone, the manufacture of the aborigines... The hachets... were made of a compact basaltic lava, not unlike clinkstone, very hard and capable of a fine polish.' (Narrative of a Voyage.., 1831, vol.I, pp.112-113). Adams also provided Beechey with a lengthy first-hand account of events on the Bounty and the mutineers subsequent history. Beechey left Pitcairn on 21 December and continued to the Bering Strait to await Franklin. Unknowingly they got to within 160 miles of each other before the weather forced Franklin to turn back. In October 1826 Beechey was himself forced to retreat before the advancing winter and returned to the Pacific. By the beginning of August 1827 he was back in Arctic waters, but once again, with no sign of Franklin, left at the beginning of October and returned home via Cape Horn. Beechey's account of the Pitcairn islanders, prompted Sir John Barrow to publish his best-selling History of the mutiny of the "Bounty" in the same year.
A comparison has been made with the various types of adzes described by R. Duff in an article in F.D. Feeman's Anthropology in the South Seas (1958, see pp.121-147). The present example is closest to Duff type D ("Triangular chisel") from the South Island New Zealand and elsewhere, but is also similar to 3G (from Ra'ivavae Australs and elsewhere) and 3C (Pitcairn). Type 3 is late Polynesian and is heavily represented in the Society Islands, poorly represented in New Zealand, Pitcairn and Hawaii, and unknown at Rapa, Mangareva and Easter Island.