Head of a New Zealand warrior (Tete d'un guerrier de la Nouvelle Zelande)

Sydney Parkinson’s drawing of a tattooed Māori, made during British explorer James Cook’s first Pacific voyage (1768–71), excited European audiences and was widely reproduced.

While the profile may be more European than Maori, Robert Bénard’s engraving shows how carefully Parkinson detailed the man’s adornment. His facial moko (tattoo) is, unusually, a moko kiore, a pattern more commonly seen on the thigh – possibly a northern tribal variation that had disappeared by 1800.

The man’s long hair is oiled and coiffed in a topknot accentuated with an ornamental heru (comb). He wears a pounamu (New Zealand nephrite) ear pendant and a rei niho parāoa (a sperm whale tooth amulet), which distinguishes him as someone of importance.