Birch Tribal Art

A Rare and Historically Important Artefact Recovered from HMS Adventure in 1775 after Captain James Cook’s Second Voyage to the Pacific A ‘coconut husker’ made by a ship’s carpenter aboard HMS Adventure in the style and design of a Native Islander’s ethnographical ‘coconut husker’ An engraved and inscribed copper plaque: A memento from The Sandwich Islands Coconut Husker used aboard HMS Adventure and recovered from The Royal Dockyard Deptford 1775 Oak, iron, brass, copper, handmade iron screws Fine rich colour and patina England / Sandwich Island 18th Century SIZE: 15.5cm high, 49.5cm long, 20cm wide (max) - 6¹⁄₈ ins high, 19½ ins long, 7⁷⁄₈ ins wide (max) Provenance: Found in a Scottish attic after centuries of lying hidden in a crate Ex Private Scottish collection Captain James Cook’s second voyage aboard the Resolution and accompanied by HMS Adventure set sail in July 1772. The discovery of the southern eight islands of the Sandwich Islands group was in 1775. The given name was chosen in honour of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty. The copper plaque and inscription however should not be read as The Sandwich Islands ‘Owhyhee’ (The Hawaiian Islands) which were later discovered on January 18th, 1778, on Captain Cook’s third voyage. Rather the inscription refers to ‘South Sandwich Islands’ lying to the south east of South Georgia and only renamed later with the word ‘South’ to distinguish them from the ‘Sandwich Islands’ now known as the Hawaiian Islands. Not withstanding during Cook’s second voyage he visited Easter Island, Tahiti, Society Islands, Niue, Tonga, New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Norfolk Islands, Palmerston Island and South Georgia. The crew onboard having been exposed to various types of ‘coconut huskers’ adapted those designs into the example we now see, having been rescued from HMS Adventure in 1775. A rare example of 18th century cross...

This handcrafted birchwood totem offers a stylized depiction of an inuit man. The facial features, consistent with native carving of this region, recall the style of Japanese kabuki masks...