Rare watercolour of Cook in combat sold at auction

Historically, the Middlesbrough-born navigator is shown being stabbed in the back as he tried to stop his men from firing on the islanders of Hawaii.

But for 225 years, it seems, our perceptions of his demise may have owed more to 18th Century spin than reality.

The watercolour, which was sold to a private collector at Christie's, in London, focused renewed attention on the long-disputed final moments of Cook, whose voyages to exotic places received universal acclamation.

It depicts Cook in hand-to-hand combat, fighting with natives after going ashore at Kealakekua Bay on February 14, 1779, to investigate the theft of one of his boats by an islander.

The picture was painted by east London artist John Cleveley from first-hand accounts made by his brother James, a carpenter on the Resolution during Cook's third and fateful voyage.

The watercolour was among a collection that formed the models for a famous set of aquatints by engraver Francis Jukes, which were published in 1788.

Advertised as "scarcely to be distinguished from the original drawings", the prints followed John Cleveley's work closely, with the exception of Cook's death.

The artist's depiction of Cook fighting for his life on the beach in the foreground has been replaced by the moment of his death, in which Cook is shown turned away from his assailants, signalling to his ships to cease fire as an Hawaiian chief prepares to stab him in the back of the neck.

The glorified image of Cook as noble hero was depicted in John Webber's drawing Death of Captain Cook, dating from 1782, and subsequently in paintings by Francesco Bartolozzi and William Byrne.

The set of four Cleveley watercolours, which have passed down through the family of Quaker philanthropist Ann Hopkins Smith, of Olney, Buckinghamshire, who died in 1851, had been estimated to fetch up to £150,000.

Published: 24/09/2004