Name/TitleCharles X medal for the departure of the first voyage of the ship ASTROLABE
About this objectASTROLABE (Duperrey’s old ship, COQUILLE, was renamed in honour of La Pérouse), under the command of Dumont d’Urville, was instructed to explore the principal island groups in the South Pacific, completing the work of the Duperrey voyage, on which the commander had been a naturalist.
The expedition sailed via the Cape of Good Hope, through Bass Strait, stopped at Port Philip and arrived at Sydney on 1 December 1828. They later sailed via the northwest coast of Australia to Tasmania, from where they proceeded to Vanikoro in search of traces of La Pérouse.
MakerAlexis Joseph DePaulis - Medallist
Maker RoleMedallist
Date Made1826
Period19th century
Place MadeParis, France
Medium and MaterialsSilver
Inscription and MarksThe inscription on the reverse reads “S.A.R. Mgr. Le Dauphin, Admiral de France. Me. Le Cte. Chabrol de Crouzol, Pair de France, Ministre de la Marine. Mr. Dumont d’Urville, Captain de Fregate, Comt. L’Expedition."
Measurements50mm diameter
Object TypeMedallions and Convict Tokens
Object numberSF000694
Copyright Licence
Attribution - 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