In July 1776, the British, Captain James Cook, set out on his third circumnavigation of the globe. This time he had to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. There were two ships under Cook’s command, HMS Resolution and HMS Discovery. The only “official” artist of the expedition was John Webber (1751–1793). James Cook noted that he was hired specifically “to supplement the written accounts with his masterly drawings”.
John Webber was born in London, into the family of the sculptor Abraham Webber. He was educated in Bern and studied painting in Paris. At the time the third circumnavigation of the globe began, he was 24 years old. James Cook’s ships visited the area of Petropavlovsk twice. They stayed there for quite a long time, which allowed John Webber to perform a whole series of works. He illustrated the natural features of the region and various aspects of the daily life of the Kamchadals. Among the paintings were depictions of dwellings and outbuildings in Petropavlovsk with a record of location, general views, fragments of facades and interiors.
John Webber devoted several of his works to the arrangement of the winter dwelling of the local people. In the late summer of 1779, he created a panoramic view of the city and the bay of Petropavlovsk in Kamchatka. This work captures the bulk of the city’s buildings against the backdrop of Avacha Bay, executed with maximum historical and ethnographic accuracy.
Based on drawings and watercolors, English and French artists produced prints and engravings on a regular basis. In this case, the graphic works were commissioned by the Admiralty for the atlases to accompany the published journals of James Cook.
The graphic sheet in a
cardboard mount from the museum’s collection is folio 74 from the album of
illustrations for the 1784 Report of the British Admiralty. This work, based on
a drawing by John Webber, was executed by the engraver Benjamin Thomas Pouncey.
In later years, he made numerous engravings of landscapes and maritime scenes.
