How paintings of Cook's tour sparked diplomatic incident

The scenes of scantily clad Maoris bathing in rivers and gushing waterfalls in lurid colours were described by the First Lord of the Admiralty as being no more great paintings than "Nelson's letters would rank as great literary achievements".

But the collection of 10 works depicting Captain Cook's second voyage to New Zealand in 1772 sparked a diplomatic incident and a Whitehall turf war almost 200 years later. Secret government papers, released after 30 years, show that the works by William Hodges, Cook's official artist, became the subject of a row between Downing Street and an alliance of defence chiefs and museum directors.

The argument was started in December 1961 when Keith Holyoake, Prime Minister of New Zealand at the time, wrote to his British counterpart, Harold Macmillan, to ask for the paintings, which were on loan to Auckland, to be made a permanent gift. Mr Holyoake wrote: "Although perhaps of limited aesthetic value, the Hodges paintings are of great historical significance."

The files released at the National Archives in Kew, west London, show that Macmillan was initially willing to grant the request to help quell a political row over import duties, which had soured relations between the two countries.

The move was supported by the Commonwealth Office, where officials pointed out that there had been "no great sense of loss" when three years earlier the paintings had been sent on loan to New Zealand during the refurbishment of Admiralty House in Whitehall.

But when news of the possible deal reached the Admiralty, which owned the paintings, and the directors of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich the response was one of barely concealed fury.

Lord Carrington, the First Lord of the Admiralty, wrote to Macmillan in February 1962 pointing out that the works were part of a wider collection. He added: "The creation of any new principle that the original subjects of a picture have a claim to its current ownership could have very far-reaching implications."

The Ministry of Public Buildings and Works said it feared a flood of similar requests from Australia, Canada and India.

Macmillan relented and New Zealand instead accepted "really good photographic copies" of the pictures. The originals are now kept at Greenwich.