Name/TitleCarte Très Curieuse de la Mer du Sud
About this objectAn example with vibrant rich colouring of Henri Châtelain’s rare and magnificent wall chart of the Pacific and its surrounds. The Carte Très Curieuse was originally issued as the highlight of Châtelain’s encyclopedic Atlas Historique ou Nouvelle Introduction à l’histoire à la Chronologie et à la Géographe Ancienne et Moderne, published between 1705 and 1720. It is undoubtedly one of the most richly decorated world maps ever produced, described by Schwartz as ‘one of the most elaborately engraved maps’, and by Tooley as, ‘one of the most decorative maps of North America of the eighteenth century’. The superb engraving of this map was done by Bernard Picart (1673-1733).
In the top centre of the chart are nine portrait medallions of the major explorers including Magellan, Columbus, Vespucci, Drake, Dampier, Jacques l’Hermite, and Schouten. There are brief descriptions of their achievements, and the tracks of their great voyages of discovery are marked. There are five voyages marked across the Pacific including that of Magellan in 1520, Le Maire and Schouten in 1616 and L’Hermite in 1625.
Clustering around the margins of the chart are sumptuously engraved and richly coloured vignettes depicting indigenous peoples and exotic flora and fauna of the New World, as well as famous historic events. Some of the images, such as the scene of beavers building dams and the view of the codfish factory, are derived from the geographer Herman Moll, one of the leading cartographers and map publishers of the eighteenth century, a friend of both William Dampier and Jonathan Swift.
Australia is charted according to the discoveries of Tasman, “Nouvelle Hollande découverte l’an 1644”, and the new place name “Golfo de Carpentarie” is recorded. The north of the continent is shown strangely flattened and the south coast of Tasmania, “Terre d’Antoine Diemens”, is placed at a very great distance from the rest of the continent. An outstanding, rare and important map; very few maps of this scale have survived, fewer still in such remarkably fine condition.
Goss, ‘The Mapping of North America’, 52; Leighly, ‘California as an Island’, pl. xx; McLaughlin, 190; Nordenskiold Collection, 753; Schwartz/Ehrenberg, pp. 146 47, pl. 85; Tooley, 53 (pl. 251); Wagner, 511.nt times.
MakerHenri Abraham Châtelain - Cartographer
Maker RoleCartographer
MakerBernard Picart - Engraver
Maker RoleEngraver
Date Made1719
Period18th century
Place MadeParis, France
Medium and MaterialsInk, Paper
Measurements860mm x 1435 mm
Object TypeMaps and Charts
Object numberSF001038
Copyright LicenceAttribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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The mug is decorated with an underglaze and a blue transfer print. On the body, it is titled ‘Emigrants to Australia’. This type of body and glaze was discontinued by 1840. Comparison of the handle shape and the profile of the foot, point to the attribution of manufacture by the Davenport Factory.
Delta was a ship-rigged vessel with two decks and three masts. It was built in Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1839 at the shipyard of Jan Schouten and registered in the same port. Its hull was constructed of oak and sheathed in ‘yellow metal’. Delta was owned by H. van der Sande at the time of its loss and was engaged as a cargo trader.
The Delta carried 29 crew and passengers, while sailing from Melbourne to Batavia in ballast when wrecked at Kenn Reefs on 30 May 1854 whilst under the command of Captain J.G. Kunst. This vessel loss supports the pattern of shipwrecks located on a well-travelled shipping route that was poorly charted until the mid-nineteenth century. The crew of the Delta could see four other shipwrecks at Kenn Reefs at the time of their vessel’s loss.
Important image of a ship associated with Matthew Flinders, that would shortly become one of the most famous early shipwrecks in eastern Australian waters. This is a fine ship’s portrait, by one of the great exponents of the art