Vintage Oceania - Matt Marchese
Vintage Oceanic Ephemera.
I decided to take a break from recataloging my weblog archives this morning, and do a little antiquing. What I discovered knocked my socks off! Buried in the antique mall's vast archive of paper ephemera, I found a folder labeled "Oceania". Within that folder was a treasure-trove of old illustrations torn from the pages of ancient periodicals and books about Polynesia and Australia. I picked out 5 of the best ones, including the wonderful engraving you see above which came from an article in the April 26, 1873 issue of Harper's Weekly called Easter Island Idol Ritual, written by a young French naval officer named, M. Julian Viaud. I love the way that the artist drew the stone Moai; he was clearly rendering them from a verbal description or the author's sketchbook, because they look almost nothing like the real Moai!
My second favorite illustration is of a group of young Tahitian girls from an article published in 1881, called The Last King of Tahiti, by Lady Constance Gordon Cumming. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find out where the other illustrations came from, but I'll keep working at it.
I scurried home with my score, scanned them, and built a new webpage called Vintage Oceania. The full-size images are huge, so you may not want to click on the thumbnails if you're on a dial-up. I may be adding something else that's very cool and special to this page in the near future, provided I can cut an acceptable deal with the store owner, so stay tuned.
I'd like to wish all of you gentle readers a Happy New Year, and unlike your drinking tonight, please enjoy Vintage Oceania in immoderation.
See you all next year! [Eye of the Goof]
4:27:11 PM 
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