TAHITI - CHARLES GEORGES SPITZ 1857-1894 - Lot 83

TAHITI - CHARLES GEORGES SPITZ 1857-1894 Views of Papeete: King Pomaré's palace, church; Raïatea (Leeward Islands), lakeside huts; Fataua, Diadem in the distance; portraits of Queen Marahu, King Pomaré V, King of Apia (Samoa), Apia bride; Tahitian men and women in festive dress; Tahitian hut; bandstand; a himéné; tattooed legs of Queen Vaekehu of the Marquesas Islands. Autographs of a Tahitian chief and British consul George Pritchard (1796-1883), 1848-1895, are included. Photographs. 33 albumin prints, 32 of them mounted on 7 cartons with French captions, 1 by Spitz. Images: 9.2 x 5.7 cm to 16.6 x 22.8 cm; mounts: 20.2 x 25.3 cm to 23.4 x 32.2 cm Consul Pritchard, whose autograph is attached, played a major role in Tahiti's history. Prime minister and principal advisor to Queen Pōmare IV, he persuaded the sovereign to expel two Catholic missionaries and then, in 1843, to have the Tahitian flag placed in place of the French flag. This led to the "Pritchard Affair": France decided to annex the territory and the queen fled, resulting in a two-year war between Tahiti and France and a major diplomatic incident between Paris and London. One photograph features a portrait of King Pomaré V, the queen's son. Bibliography: Henri le Chartier, "Tahiti et les colonies françaises de la Polynésie", Jouvet à Paris, 1887, p.33 (Pomaré V) and Frederick O'Brien "Atolls of the sun", Century Company, 1922, 506p. (Queen Vaekehu's legs).