Dream islands and island dreams (3)

Hawaiʻi and Berlin

Island paradise Peacock Island

Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764–1850): “Harry of the Sandwich Islands, en face and in profile to the left”

On October 18, 1824, the “Royal Privileged Berlin Newspaper of State and Scholarly Matters” reported on the voyage of the Prussian merchant ship “Mentor” under the heading “Science and art news”:  

For an ethnographic museum, the construction of which we are still awaiting, many a curious thing has also come along; we only noticed a light dance dress of the Chileans made of bear guts, stuff made of tree bark from the Sandwich Islands, drinking vessels made of gourds, fans made of peacock feathers, helmets made of rushes, weapons, fishing rods and household utensils of various kinds.

However, the “volunteer from the Sandwich Islands” that the mentor had also brought from Hawaiʻi aroused particular interest:

Henry, as he is called, or rather that is what he calls himself, came on board when the mentor docked there and begged to be taken along. They inquired about his family circumstances, he had neither father nor mother, nor anyone else who made claims on him; so he went with them to China, and has now become completely accustomed to the European way of life. Henry may be about 15 to 18 years old, [...] he has tattoos on his arm and face. He is very eager to learn, friendly, lively and hard-working. He speaks German words fluently, if they do not have too many consonants, especially the r seems to be missing completely.

Just eight days later, “Harry of the Sandwich Islands” sat for the Berlin sculptor and draughtsman Johann Gottfried Schadow for a drawing “en face and in profile to the left”. The artist later described how he saw the portrayed person in his “Polyclet”:

To the north of this island, in the line between Mexico and China, lie the Sandwich Islands, from which the ship Mentor brought an inhabitant named Harry, whose portrait, in profile and face, is shown on this plate. Since he has remained among us, an inspection of his features shows that there is nothing different from ours. The broad cheekbones are also to be found among us, and although his skull is more slender, this is nevertheless concealed by the strong and thick hair; what distinguishes him to some extent is the darker color of his skin. He was not suited to a more refined intellectual education. This shows how great the difference is between the appearance of the islanders of this large expanse of water.

Anyone comparing the two contemporary quotes and the drawing will notice an interesting detail: According to the report in the “Voss’s Newspaper”, Harry Maitey's face was tattooed – but neither the drawing shows the facial adornment nor does the description mention it. Rather, Schadow seems to have been particularly focused on making sure the “facial features do not differ from ours”.

Wilhelm von Humboldt's message to Christian Rother on April 15, 1827

The documents about the “Sandwich Islander” are also characterized by sobriety and describe a not very exotic way of life. Initially, Harry lived in the office building of the Prussian Shipping Trade Society with the family of Christian Rother, the president of the Shipping Trade Society, in the Jägerstraße on the corner of the Gendarmenmarkt. In 1825, he began his schooling at the “Boarding school in front of the Halle Gate”, to which he moved two years later. As he was not satisfied with his progress in German, Rother asked the linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt to give Harry extra tuition. The message with which Humboldt agreed on April 15, 1827 has been preserved:

If Your Excellency would send me your Harry this afternoon at 6 o’clock, I would like to try working with him. If it is not possible today, I will ask for him at the same time next Tuesday. With my best wishes for your journey and your warmest and most respectful friendship,
Humboldt

However, Maitey was not tutored in German, but was asked for words from the Hawaiian language. This resulted in the “Sandwich Glossary”, which Humboldt presented at the Berlin Academy of Sciences in 1828. Later, in his studies on the Malayo-Polynesian languages, he cited “Harres Maitai” as his most important source for the Hawaiian language.

New Church and Royal Theater 1833

The year 1830 marked two important events for the young Harry. On April 30, he was baptized and confirmed in the New Church on Gendarmenmarkt. Although King Friedrich Wilhelm III had spoken out against it, he was given the German first names Heinrich and Wilhelm at his baptism. At the same time, April 30, 1807 was set as the date of his birth on the baptismal certificate. In August, Maitey was taken into the royal household and at the same time assigned as an assistant to the machinery master on Peacock Island.

Associated with this island are imageries such as “Prussian paradise” or “Prussian Arcadia”, as Frederick William III had it equipped with various gardens and had exotic animals gathered there. It is therefore sometimes assumed that the “Sandwich Islander” was also intended to enrich the island paradise as an “exotic”. This overlooks the fact that Maitey only failed to enter court service because of a failed examination. So now – quite unlike paradise – he was trained by machinery master Friedrich as a turner, locksmith and carpenter.

After marrying Dorothea Charlotte Becker, the animal keeper’s daughter, in 1833, the Peacock Island changed from a residential to a working location, as the young couple moved to Klein-Glienicke. It is not known whether it was only due to the longer commute that Maitey was increasingly absent from the island. In any case, it led to tensions with Friedrich, who eventually made an official complaint. Maitey was then assigned to the royal court gardener Fintelmann.

Chest portrait (around 1850) in the Brandenburg-Prussian House Archive

For the less than 40 years from his marriage until his death in 1872, official sources about Maitey become increasingly sparse. As the king’s “sandwich islander”, he was paid by the royal court, but probably offered no reason for greater public attention. The contrast with the “Science and art news” of the “Voss’s Newspaper” after the arrival of the tattooed youth in Berlin, whom Schadow portrayed and who provided Wilhelm von Humboldt with Hawaiian language material, is clearly recognizable. But perhaps this only shows that Harry Maitey, to whom the “Voss’s Newspaper” had certified in 1824 that he had “become completely accustomed to the European way of life”, simply led a completely normal life on the island paradise of Peacock Island and in Klein-Glienicke?

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(To be continued)

Part 1: Voyages to the islands of dreams
 Part 2: Dream islands of the South Seas and Prussian trading dreams

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Illustration credits

• Johann Gottfried Schadow, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/KS-Schadow_0974_Re_AF-KS-671_%28cropped%29.tif
• „Acta betreffend den durch das Seehandlungsschiff Mentor mitgebrachten Sandwich-Insulaner Harry Maitey“. Geheimes Staatsarchiv PK, I. HA Rep. 109 B, Tit. 4, Nr. 11, S. 12, Public Domain Mark 1.0
• Königliches Schauspielhaus und Neue Kirche in Berlin (1833), drawing by H.Hintze, (1800-1862), engraving by J.Vincent Barber (1787-1838), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:K%C3%B6nigliches_Schauspielhaus_und_neue_Kirche_Berlin_1833.jpg
• Heinrich Wilhelm Maitey, Brandenburg-Preußisches Hausarchiv, Public Domain Mark 1.0, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harry_Maitey_IX_HA_SPAE_VII_Nr_3055_klein_ret2.png

References

Historical sources

• Heinrich Wilhelm Maitey. Brandenburg-Preußisches Hausarchiv, Geheimes Staatsarchiv PK, IX. HA, SPAE, VII, Nr. 3055
• Schadow, Johann Gottfried. „Harry von den Sandwich-Inseln, en face und im Profil nach links“. Werkverzeichnis 1334, Archiv der Akademie der Künste, Berlin, https://archiv.adk.de/objekt/2787631
• Schadow, Johann Gottfried. „Polyclet oder von den Maaßen des Menschen nach dem Geschlechte und Alter : mit Angabe der wirklichen Naturgröße. 2. National-Physionomie oder Beobachtungen über die Unterschiede der Gesichtszüge ...“ Band 2. Berlin: Sachsa, 1835. https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/de/details/bsb10872994, S. 26f.
• Wilhelm von Humboldt an Christian von Rother, 15.04.1827. In: Wilhelm von Humboldt: Online-Edition der Sprachwissenschaftlichen Korrespondenz. Berlin. Version vom 15.03.2023. URL: https://wvh-briefe.bbaw.de/1070
• „Wissenschaftliche und Kunst-Nachrichten“. In: Königlich Privilegirte Berlinische Zeitung von Staats- und gelehrten Sachen, im Verlage Vossischer Erben, vom Montag, dem 18. Oktober 1824, 245stes Stück. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vossische_Zeitung_1824_10_18_Nr_245.pdf, S. 6f.

Miscellaneous

• Moore, Anneliese W. „Harry Maitey: From Polynesia to Prussia“. In: Hawaiian Journal of History 11 (1977): 125–161.

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First published: „No ka hoʻomanaʻo ana ia Berlin“