Captain Cook at Easter Island

Chart of Easter Island published in James Cook’s “AVoyage towards the South Pole, and around the world...”,1777.

Cook and his crew described the gigantic statuesin their journals when they visited Easter Islandbriefly in March 1774. William Hodges, officialvoyage artist on the ship HMS Resolution, drewthe stones.

Cook was recovering from an illness and so didnot go inland beyond the shore but a small partyexplored the island, traded with the islanders andrecorded or reported back to Cook what they saw:

“On the East side of the Island near the Sea, theymet with three Platforms (ahu) of Stone work, orrather the ruins of them: on each had stood fourof those large Statues...Each Statue had on itshead a large Cylindric Stone of a red Colourworked perfectly round; the one they measured,and that apparently not by the far the largest was52 inches high and 66 in diameter...Theyobserved that this side of the Island was full of

those gigantic Statues so often mentioned, someplaced in groups on Platforms of masonry, otherssingle and without any, being fixed only in the Earthand that not deep; these latter are in general muchlarger than the others; They measured one whichwas fallen down and found it very near 27 feet longand upwards of Eitht feet over the breast, orsholders and yet this appeared considerably shortof the size of one which they saw standing: itsshade a little past tow oClock, being sufficient toshelter all the party, consisting of near 30 persons,from the rays of the Sun.” (Cook, 15th March 1774)

Easter Island is now part of Chile, South America,and is one of the most remote places on Earth. Itwas first inhabited by Polynesian people hundredsof years before the island was ‘discovered’ byEuropeans in 1722. There must have been a verylarge population to make such a number of stonesfrom the hard volcanic rock using only stone andwooden tools.

Modern archaeological investigations haverevealed that there are nearly a thousand of thesestatues, in various stages of completion, scatteredacross the Island. Some are massive, the largest,called ‘El Gigante’, is 20 metres long and weighsabout 270 tons. The largest standing statues areabout 10 metres high. The Marton Moai is nearly 3metres long overall and weighs about 3 tons.

Man and Woman of Easter Island. Engravings based ondrawings made in 1774 by William Hodges, published in 1777.

A View in Easter Island, engraving based on a drawing byWilliam Hodges, 1774.

Preparing the Stone

Jenny Phillips (Museum Education Officer), John Benson(Eskdale Stone) and George Nuku (artist) selecting thelarge lower stone for the Moai, 18th February 2008.

In January 2008 Eskdale Stone near Whitbygenerously offered a piece of Aislaby sandstonefrom their quarry to use for the Moai. GeorgeNuku visited Eskdale Stone’s yard and selecteda piece measuring nearly 3 metres long, 1.5metres wide and over 0.5 metres thick, weighingalmost 4 tons. Transportation of the stone fromWhitby to the Museum in Stewart Park was kindlyorganised by Teesside Beam Mill, Corus, andarranged for the morning of 19th March.

Before this could happen an area outside theMuseum had to be prepared to take the stone andplans were drawn up by Scott Wilson for a large concrete base. The hole for this wasexcavated and the concrete base made byCleveland Land Services of Yearby who also,when the stone arrived, grouted it in and finishedoff the landscaping of the area around it. Thestone was ready to carve!

Cleveland Land Services begin work outside the Museumon the excavation of the Moai’s base, 6th March 2008.

Scott Wilson’s isometric drawing for the Moai base.

George Nuku and Cleveland Land Services take delivery ofthe stone from the transport provided by Teesside Beam Mill,Corus, 19th March 2008.

The stone grouted into its base by Cleveland Land Services.

The Marton MoaiKo Tutira Kei Ahunehenehe

Ka Titiro iho ki Te Moai Tutira,E Tu ana ki runga Ki Ahunehenehe!Kei Marton e noho ana ai,Ara! Ko Te Marton Moai!

Cast your gaze towards the Moainamed Tutira - ‘The Lookout’,Standing on the platform calledAhunehenehe - named after the ancients.Marton is where you will find him,The Marton Moai!

What is The Marton Moai?The Marton Moai is a contemporarysculpture by New Zealand Maori artistGeorge Nuku and North East basedsculptor David Gross, commissioned byThe Captain Cook Birthplace Museum. Itis a modern interpretation of the famousstatues, or Moai, of the Pacific Island ofRapa Nui, better known as Easter Island.Captain James Cook and his crew visitedthe Island in 1774 and recorded thesemysterious gigantic monoliths.

Why a Moai?In 2006 George Nuku and David Grossmet whilst working at the Museum andshared the Museum’s enthusiasm tocreate further artwork, deciding tocollaborate to carve a stone Easter Islandhead to stand outside in Stewart Park. Inlate 2007 the Renaissance in the RegionsNorth East (Tees Valley) Museums Hubprovided funds to commission the artistsand early in 2008 the Museum attractedthe support of generous local businessesthat provided the materials, expertise,muscle, transport and sustenance to start

The Marton Moai is generouslysupported by:

Although severe wintry weather delayed the start of carv-ing, David and George, using hand and power tools, start-ed work on the stone on Easter Saturday, 22nd March andfinished on 27th March.

On Friday 28th March a formal unveilingand blessing of The Marton Moai tookplace alongside the opening of theexhibition “The Pacific Style of GeorgeNuku” (until 1st June 2008), an eventsponsored by Nana Tom’s Museum Cafe.

The Marton Moai is one of anumber of contemporary‘Niu Treasures’ in theMuseum’s collection thatmaintain a link betweenCook’s world of theeighteenth century and thevibrant culture of Pacificpeoples today.

Eskdale Stone

© 2008 The Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, StewartPark, Marton, Middlesbrough TS7 8AT. t.01642 311211;www.captcook-ne.co.uk.

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