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Homme de l'isle de paques
Homme de l'isle de paques

Homme de l'isle de paques

Maker (1734 -)
Datec 1780
Object number00017958
NameEngraving
MediumPaper, ink
DimensionsOverall: 337 x 256 mm, 0.03 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionPortrait engraving of a bearded man from Easter Island wearing a headdress. This work may depict the Ariki (king) of the island.HistoryEaster Island is an island in the Pacific located off the coast of Chile and is most famous for it moai (stone figures). On Easter Sunday 1722, Jacob Roggeveen discovered the island after being sent by the Dutch West India Company to find the southern land. Easter Island was originally settled by groups from surrounding Polynesian islands and a clear class structure was established with an ariki (king) wielding absolute power. The first ariki was believed to be Hotu Matu'a who came to the island sometime between 300AD and 1200AD. The European discovery of the island led to an increase in visitation and in 1777 Captain James Cook arrived the area. In 1838 French Admiral Abel Aubert Dupetit Thouars documented that a majority of the moai had been toppled and in several cases the necks broken. By 1868 there were no standing moai's remaining, but restoration projects in the twentieth century have re-erected many of the statues on the island.SignificanceThe exploration of the Pacific Ocean during the eighteenth century uncovered many previously unknown civilisations, including that of Easter Island.