The Islanders and Moai of Easter Island

The artwork

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

• The moai of Rapa Nui in 1786, with the islanders and the French measuring the statues.
• Above a sofa or in a study, the great statues give presence to the wall.
• A gift for anyone who has been to Rapa Nui or dreams of going.

The expedition of Jean-François de La Pérouse anchored off Rapa Nui, as its people call it, on 9 April 1786, and sailed again on the evening of the following day. That was long enough for hats and handkerchiefs to vanish. The commander lost his too: a man who had helped him down from a terrace slipped off his hat and ran away. La Pérouse did not have him chased: he noted in his journal that almost all of them were hatless, and that he did not want to be the only one shaded from the sun.

The plate is number 11 of the Atlas du voyage de La Pérouse, printed in Paris in 1797 by the Imprimerie de la République. It was drawn by Gaspard Duché de Vancy, the expedition's artist, and engraved by Jean Godefroy; underneath runs the title “Insulaires et monumens de l'Île de Pâque”. La Pérouse wrote that Duché had drawn those monuments with great exactness. One of the Frenchmen measures the statue with a pole while another takes notes; in the centre a third shows a sheet to the islanders gathered around his drawing board. This copy, printed in black ink only, belongs to the David Rumsey Map Collection.

Above a sofa or in the study of someone who collects travel books, it is a gift for anyone who has been to Rapa Nui or dreams of going. And that hat, down on the right, is still about to change hands.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
With frame: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with gold fillet, handmade, with glass