The inhabitants and the moai of Easter Island

The artwork

At the foot of the moai, on the right, an islander hidden behind a boulder snatches with a forked stick the tricorne hat placed on the ground by one of the Frenchmen: in 1786, on Easter Island, almost all the Frenchmen were left bareheaded. You receive it printed on handmade Amalfi paper, with a handmade frame.

The expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse anchored off Rapa Nui, as its inhabitants call it, on April 9, 1786, and set sail the following evening. That was enough for hats and handkerchiefs to disappear. Even the commander was not spared: a man who had helped him disembark from a terrace snatched off his hat and ran away. La Pérouse did not have him pursued: he noted in his diary that almost everyone was without a hat, and that he did not want to be the only one protected from the sun.

The plate is number 11 from the Atlas du voyage de La Pérouse, printed in Paris in 1797 by the Imprimerie de la République. The drawing is by Gaspard Duché de Vancy, the expedition's artist, with the engraving by Jean Godefroy; below runs the title "Insulaires et monumens de l'Île de Pâque". La Pérouse wrote that Duché had portrayed those monuments with great accuracy. One of the Frenchmen measures the statue with a measuring rod and another takes notes; in the center, a third shows a sheet to the islanders gathered around his drawing board. This copy, in black ink only, is part of the David Rumsey Map Collection.

Above a sofa or in the study of a travel book collector, it is a gift for anyone who has been to Rapa Nui or dreams of going there. And that hat, over there on the right, is about to change owners again.

Material of unique quality

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm
With frame: 31 x 44 cm
Material: artwork printed on the finest handmade Amalfi paper with deckle edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass