Context (Other owners)
The object was entered into the deposit register at MAA.
Event Date 18/3/1914
Author: Remke Velden

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Context (CMS Context)
The Captain Cook Collection, comprising eighty-three objects, was originally presented to Trinity College by the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty; Found: ?East coast; Collected by: Cook, Captain James in 1771.
Literature: See ‘Artificial Curiosities’ (1978), A. Kaeppler, p.202, figures 402-404 p.202. Evidence: Sandwich collection. Given by Cook, probably from the second voyage. Kaeppler states (p.202), ‘Some canoe paddles collected on Cook’s voyages are beautifully decorated with painting on the blades similar to painting used on house rafters, some with relief carving at midpoint or end, some with images carved on the blades in relief and some are undecorated’. Also see Shawcross, 1970, pp.320-321. (J.Tanner, June 1998).
Also see ‘The Maori Collection at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’ by Peter Gathercole in ‘Taonga Maori Conference’ (1990). (J. Tanner, November 1998). cf. Paddle in “James Cook: Gifts and Treasures from the South Seas” (1998), edited by Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin and Gundolf Krüger, p. 302, fig. 113. The text states, ‘The simple paddles were mostly 120 to 150 cm long, the steering paddles being longer....Some of the paddles feature paintings on the blades, similar to those found on rafters with the kowhaiwhai motif. Some have carved decorations at the end or in the middle of the shaft, or on the blade....The steering paddles were nearly always straight , the simple paddles however often featured a bend. The Maori paddled while kneeling, whereby the women also paddled. Steering paddles from famous canoes had their own names’. (J. Tanner; February 1999). cf. Paddle in “Te Maori” (ed) S.M. Mead, 1984:227:154-5. (J. Tanner, 1999). See ‘From Pacific Shores: Eighteenth-century Ethnographic Collections at Cambridge - The Voyages of Cook, Vancouver and the First Fleet’ (J. Tanner, 1999:32).

Cook Collection: Captain James Cook undertook three world voyages around the globe from 1768 - 1779. The stated purpose of the first voyage (1768-1771) on the HMS Endeavour was to send a Royal Society team to observe the transit of the planet Venus from the vantage point of newly discovered Tahiti. However, the primary governmental motivation behind the first expedition was to establish the existence of 'Terra Australis Incognita' or the 'Great Southern Continent', which was believed to exist in order to balance the great northern land mass. Cook set sail from Plymouth on Friday 26th August 1768 and headed to South America, round Cape Horn and westwards to carry out the experiment in Tahiti, and then went on to circumnavigate the globe in pursuit of the presumed continent.

The purpose of the second voyage (1772-1775) on the HMS Resolution and the HMS Adventure was to extend the search for the 'southern continent'. They sailed from Plymouth on 27 June 1772 and headed directly south past Cape Town and then set out on an eastward course of circumnavigation, crossing the Antartic Circle several times en route in an effort to seek the imagined continent. The third voyage (1776-1780) on the HMS Resolution and the HMS Discovery, was concerned with the search for a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They sailed from Plymouth on 13th July 1772, heading first for the Society Islands from whence they set course to search for the Northwest Passage. However, Cook was killed in Hawaii in 1779 and his command was taken up by Charles Clerke.

More than 2000 extant pieces can be traced from Cook's voyages (Kaeppler:1978), of which UCMAA has 215 identified objects. The majority of the material at UCMAA was collected from the Pacific, but also includes objects from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America, the Northeast Coast of Asia and Tierra del Fuego in South America. Furthermore, all the three voyages are represented by objects in UCMAA's collection. (J. Tanner, 1999).
Event Date 1/8/1995
Author: maa

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Description (Physical description)
Catalogue card: 'Large paddle, with boldly carved neck and haft end.'

Event Date 1/8/1995
Author: maa

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Description (Physical description)
Julia Tanner (1998): 'Long, plain handle, with finial carved into three open loops. Elongated eye-shaped blade, with faint geometric painting. Also has a rectangular mark which is possibly old labelling. At junction of blade and handle is a highly carved and raised section. Possibly paddle for war canoe.'
Event Date 1/5/1998
Author: Remke Velden

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Context (CMS Context)
Card adds a note by D.R. Simmons (Auckland Museum), 01.06.1978: 'Paddle w. Taratara akai dec. some iron? (see Gisborne bailer) ?E.Coast'
Amiria Salmond, 23.05.01: 'David Simmons' views on the provenance and dating of Maori artefacts are no longer considered reliable in New Zealand.'

Event Date 10/5/2012
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (CMS Context)
Catalogue card reads [handwritten in black ink:] 'Dep. 14.66. N. Zealand. A large carved paddle. (74" x 6".5) Cook Colln. Ex. Trin. Coll.'; [handwritten in black ball point on back of card:] 'D.R. Simmons [Auckland Museum] 1.6.[19]78. Paddle w. Taratara akai dec. some iron? (see Gisborne bailer) ?E.Coast.’ [Red circular sticker top and bottom right front of card.]
Event Date 3/4/2013
Author: Heather Donoghue

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Context (CMS Context)
Exhibited: On loan to Mana Maori: Power of the Maori exhibition, Museum Volkenkunde Leiden, 14 October 2010 - 18th September 2011
Event Date 11/5/2014
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (CMS Context)
On July 6th 2015 Maori carver Steve Gibbs visited the museum and said the following about the paddle: 'It is heavier than 1914.67. It would have been carved with stone tools. It is known as a whakato paddle (war canoe paddles). The faded side is a series of independent roru designs. Would have been painted by a group of people. The red is wax.'
Event Date 14/12/2015
Author: alison clark

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Conservation (Surface Clean)
CON.2015.1797 | Surface Clean
Event Date 2/7/2015
Author: rah99

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Description (Physical description)
Large paddle with a carved neck and painted head.
Event Date 7/12/2016
Author: maa

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Loan (Exhibition)
Tairawhiti Museum, Gisbourne., 1/10/2018 to 1/10/2019, 250th anniversary of meetings between tangata whenua and the crew of the Endeavour
Event Date 1/10/2018
Author: rachel hand

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Research Visit (Anthropology)
RES.2018.2477 | Filming of objects for the BBC4 documentary 'Oceans Apart'.
Event Date 5/6/2018
Author: Remke Velden

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Description (Physical description)
Paddle with long, plain handle, with finial carved into three open loops. Elongated eye-shaped blade, with faint geometric painting. Possibly paddle for war canoe.
Event Date 5/6/2018
Author: Remke Velden

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Loan (Exhibition)
Royal Academy of Arts, 14/09/2018 to 09/12/2018, Oceania
Event Date 14/9/2018
Author: rachel hand

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Loan (Exhibition)
Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, Paris , 11/03/2019 to 07/07/2019, Oceanie
Event Date 11/3/2019
Author: rachel hand