DISPUTED SKETCH

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 959, 30 April 1930, Page 16

DISPUTED SKETCH

ORIGINAL IN COLONISTS’ MUSEUM THEORY OF CABLE SOURCE There can be no doubt that the pencil sketch in the Auckland Old Colonists’ Museum purporting to be of Captain Cook’s house in Leigh-on-Sea is the “etching” referred to yesterday in a cable from London. The cable announced that the Auckland Museum authorities apparently | were the victims of a deception. It said: “They are said to possess an etching of a house at Lsigh-on-Sea, reputed to have been occupied by Captain Cook. The original house certainly stands in High Street . . . hut the only Cook who ever occupied it was a doctor whose spiritualistic tendencies scared the fisher folk of olden days.” Mr. John Barr, city librarian,. told The Sun this morning that he could not understand how the cable had com© to be sent. “It must have 'been inspired by someone,” he added. “VALUE NOT GREAT” Referring to the sketch in the Old Colonists’ Museum, he said: “There is little I care to say or can say about it. The sketch was a gift by Mr. Moss Davis and was received within the last two years. Certainly the donor’s intentions were golden. The error—if there has been an error —may have been made by the artist, Stapleton, who, being told that the house in Leigh-on-Sea was occupied at one time by Cook, reached the erroneous conclusion that the man was Captain Cook. Ours is a pencil sketch but, lor all one knows, an etching may have been mad© later. It is not as it it was a contemporary sketch. The artistic and intrinsic value of it is not great.”* The sketch was inspected later this morning by a Sun representative. It is framed and hung immediately to the left of the door leading into the first museum gallery, and is a most attractively done Stapleton original in pencil, dated 1925. Underneath the drawing are the words: “Captain Cook's house, weatherboarded on left.” • Near it is another Stapleton orig- 1 inal, beautifully framed, and also the gift of Mr. Moss Davis. This is a pencil sketch of Captain Cook’s home. INTEREST OF VISITOR There is reason to believe that the cable from London was inspired by an English J.P. who visited Auckland about eight months ago. He came from Essex, and Leigh-on-Sea is situated in that county, about two miles from Southend. Being familiar with Leigh-on-Sea and recognising the scene, the visitor expressed surprise and great interest on seeing the sketch in the museum. . He said that, to the best of his knowledge, Captain Cook never lived in the place named. Determining to investigate the claim on his return to England he asked permission to photograph the sketch. The request was refused, but a photograph may have been taken surreptitiously. The mistakes in the cable are understandable. Eight months ago the only museum open in Auckland was the Old Colonists, while the visitor, if his acquaintance with original pencil work and etchings was limited, could easily j have become confused.