Topic summary
Omai
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Mai (Ra'iatean man).
Life
He was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, among others. In Reynolds' Portrait of Omai, he is depicted in a version of ceremonial Tahitian dress: a form of dress that Mai may have in some ways aspired to because it was associated with Tahitian nobility and the priestly classes. In 2001, the portrait sold for "the second highest price ever paid for a British picture", according to the Antiques Trade Gazette. Mai's journey to England and subsequent return to Tahiti with Cook's third voyage in 1776 became the subject of a theatrical production, written and directed by the dramatist John O'Keefe, entitled Omai – A Voyage ‘round the World that was performed during the 1785 Christmas season at the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden.