Joshua Reynolds Omai, about 1776
© Private Collection
(1753-?1799)
'His manners are so extremely graceful... that you would have thought he came from some foreign court.'
Fanny Burney
'Omai' was a young Polynesian man who was brought to England from Tahiti in 1774. His British patrons, who included the scientist Joseph Banks, wanted to evaluate his responses to 'civilised' western society, but Omai quickly became a source of amusement. Omai himself hoped to gain British support against invaders who had taken over his native island, Raiatea. But when Captain Cook returned Omai to the South Sea Islands in 1776 he refused to take him to Raiatea, fearing bloodshed, and settled him on a neighbouring island. He is said to have died there three years later.