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Lot Essay
The date suggests this early drawing of the 'Paley' (Pali) volcanos on Hawaii is associated with the visit of HMS Blonde to Hawaii in 1825. The ship was returning the bodies of the Hawaiian King Kamehameha II and his Queen Kamamahu to Hawaii, after their death from measles on their visit to London in 1824, and the ship was in Hawaiian waters from 3 May until 18 July 1825.
Dampier, taken onboard by Lord Byron at Rio on the outward voyage, joined as the ship's official artist and his work illustrated the official account of the voyage published in 1826. The ship took a variety of gentlemen, including the naturalist the Rev. Andrew Bloxham (who might also be contenders for the present sheet). There are pencil drawings by Dampier of Hawaiian landscapes in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, and his oil portraits of members of the Hawaiian Royal family are in the Honolulu Academy of Arts (for which see D.W.Forbes, Encounters with Paradise, Views of Hawaii and its people, 1778-1941 (Honolulu Academy of Arts exhibition catalogue), Honolulu, 1992, pp.76-83: 'The providential addition of Dampier as official artist to the voyage ensured the recording of events and scenes that were virtually the last look at Hawaii before it became substantially Westernized.')
Dampier, taken onboard by Lord Byron at Rio on the outward voyage, joined as the ship's official artist and his work illustrated the official account of the voyage published in 1826. The ship took a variety of gentlemen, including the naturalist the Rev. Andrew Bloxham (who might also be contenders for the present sheet). There are pencil drawings by Dampier of Hawaiian landscapes in the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, and his oil portraits of members of the Hawaiian Royal family are in the Honolulu Academy of Arts (for which see D.W.Forbes, Encounters with Paradise, Views of Hawaii and its people, 1778-1941 (Honolulu Academy of Arts exhibition catalogue), Honolulu, 1992, pp.76-83: 'The providential addition of Dampier as official artist to the voyage ensured the recording of events and scenes that were virtually the last look at Hawaii before it became substantially Westernized.')