Name/TitleMaris Pacifici
About this objectAbraham Ortelius (1527-1598), “the most influential mapmaker in history” (Cohen) is credited with the creation of the first modern geographical atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (1570). “It was engraved at a time of increasing activity in the Pacific with the English having recently begun raiding the Spanish galleons carrying the gold of Peru up the coast to the Isthmus, as well as those making the arduous journey across from the Philippines to Mexico” (Burden).
This map is based on Mercator’s world map (1569), Frans Hogenberg’s map of the Americas (1589), and details from the Portuguese manuscript maps of Bartolomeo de Lasso. The map presents the west coast of North America more accurately than prior printed maps. California is shown in peninsular conformation rather than as an island but in the East, the islands of New Guinea and Japan are first depicted as closer to Asia than America.
MakerAbraham Ortelius - Cartographer
Maker RoleCartographer
Date Made1595
Period16th century
Place MadeAntwerp
Medium and MaterialsPaper, ink. Hand coloured copper engraving.
Measurements345mm x 497mm
Object TypeMaps and Charts
Object numberSF000822
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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Date range: 1541-1836
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Date range: 1768-c1850
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Date range: 1619-1880
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Date range: 1629-1854
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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