One cannot neglect to mention David Payne when researching Papua New Guinea's canoes.
David Payne is the former Curator of History Vessels at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Retired in 2020. He is a maritime historian and boat designer. He has extensively researched bark canoes in South-East Australia and outrigger canoes in Papua New-Guinea.
In 2017, David joined British and Australian anthropologists working in Southern Papua New-Guinea, researching cultural traditions along the south coast and offshore in the Louisiade Archipelago. His job was to document the canoes used in that area and to produce technical drawings of them.
When I first set eyes on his exquisite drawings, I immediately made a connection to those of John Webber, an English artist who accompanied Captain Cook on his third Pacific expedition. He is best known for his images of Australasia, Hawaii, and Alaska.
'Canoe of the Sandwich Islands, the Rowers Masked', by John Webber, c. 1778.
Edmond Paris, French Admiral and naval engineer, known for his extensive sketches and studies of boats and canoes during voyages on his ships, like l' Astrolabe and La Favorite.
CAROLINE ISLANDS, YAP OR SANTAWAL PRO. DRAWING BY FRANCOIS-EDMOND PARIS
I was also thinking of Jules Dumont d'Urville, another French explorer and naval officer who explored the South and Western Pacific around 1825, leaving us with many canoe drawings.
MAORI CANOE ( BREAM BAY) BY JULES DUMONT D’ URVILLE
A Kalia canoe by Jules Dumont d’Urville
The canoe drawings of David Payne are of a class on their own.
Tadobu canoe by David Payne.
Extremely detailed, beautiful, and artistic.