Tahitian funerary monument, William Hodges, 1 February 1777

A funerary monument (toupapow) with a corpse on it in tahiti, as encountered by captain james cook and his crew on his second voyage, 1772-1775. The chief mourner is to the left in ceremonial dress. A tupapow was a house or shed under which the dead were deposited in otaheite. Otaheite (tahiti) was originally named port royal harbour in king george the third's island by captain samuel wallis (1728-1795). Iconographic collections keywords: funeral rites; william woollett; pacific islands; william hodges. Object Type: print. Date: 1 February 1777. Medium: engraving. Depicted Place: Tahiti. Tahitian funerary monument Wellcome V0050666