Credit: ©The Royal Society
    Image number: RS.13412

    Portrait of James Cook

    Date
    ca. 18th century
    Sitter
    James Cook (1728 - 1779, British) , Naval officer
    Creator
    Unknown, Printmaker
    After
    Nathaniel Dance-Holland (1735 - 1811, British) , Artist
    Object type
    Image reference
    Material
    Technique
    Dimensions
    height (print): 130mm
    width (print): 105mm
    height (paper support): 220mm
    width (paper support): 153mm
    Subject
    Description
    Half-length portrait of James Cook in Royal Naval uniform, he is facing slightly to the viewer’s right.

    Inscribed ‘CAPTAIN COOK’ on separate paper and pasted below, and pencilled 1776’ on paper support.

    James Cook (1728-1779), British explorer, known for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and to Australia, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1776.

    Cook’s first voyage, on board HMS Endeavour, was initially planned by the Royal Society as part of its observation of the 1769 transit of Venus. During this voyage, Cook is known to have acted on a second set of orders from the Admitalty to explore, claim resources and trade in the 'unknown southern land', Terra Australis Incognita.

    Provenance: Noted in Catalogue of the prints in the possession of the Royal Society, by Henry George Plimmer FRS (1856-1918), manuscript, p.11.
    Associated place
    <The World>
       > Europe
          > United Kingdom
    Powered by CollectionsIndex+/CollectionsOnline