Vintage Oceania IV: A Day at the War Canoe Races
It's been quite a while since I've found anything worthy of adding to my Vintage Oceania collection, but today I stumbled upon this lovely illustration from the April 29, 1871 issue of Harper's Weekly, that depicts a Maori war canoe race in New Zealand. I really like the feathered, big-nosed figurehead on the prow. I wonder who the artist was? Unfortunately, I can't find any signature.
UPDATE: one of my sharp-eyed readers located the artist's signature at the bottom lefthand side of the illustration. After looking at it under high magnification, I've determined that it's "G. Durand", a 19th-century engraver who did indeed work for Harper's.
[Link: Vintage Oceania gallery]
Comments
I can see a signature on your scan at the bottom left...looks like C.C. or maybe C.L. Durand. Googling throws up a few results for 19th century engravers with this surname. Nice pic!
Posted by: Paipo | February 2, 2008 7:30 PM
Good eye! I'm not sure how I missed that.
I looked at the name with a magnifying glass, and it appears to be G. Durand, who did indeed make engravings for Harper's in this same time period.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | February 2, 2008 8:16 PM