Name/TitleCommemorative medal for the La Pérouse expedition
About this objectThis medal was designed by the celebrated Benjamin Duvivier, chief engraver at the French mint until 1791. Only one hundred such examples were minted for the sailing of La Pérouse in June 1785, some in bronze and some silver: although the actual number of each is still open to speculation, the silver issue of this particular medal was evidently very small, perhaps fewer than fifty. Although the voyage was primarily one of scientific discovery, it also had explicit ‘Political and Commercial Objects’ (Spate, Paradise Found and Lost, p. 157); thus the minting of medals for trade with the South Sea islanders was obviously thought to be expedient. Indeed, the official accounts of the voyage include a staggering array of goods and baubles, taken along as gifts or for exchange. It includes a total of 700 medals, the first 600 simple medals in bronze and silver with only the effigy of the king, and 100 more of the elaborate medals, detailing the voyage, as here. They are listed as ‘Medailles d’argent ou de bronze, a effigie du roi, avec l’inscription portant les noms des batiments et l’epoque du voyage, les unes avec des chaines de meme metal, les autres sans chaines, 100’.
The appearance of the two silver and bronze versions is effectively identical. Having said that, there are small discrepancies in Duvivier’s name beneath the bust: here, “B. Duvivier F.” appears to have been newly lettered when compared with the example of the bronze issue. It would also seem that the date “1778”, the apparent date that the bust was struck, has been removed from either the die or the medal itself.
MakerPierre Simon Benjamin Duvivier - Engraver
Maker RoleEngraver
MakerBenjamin Duvivier - Engraver
Maker RoleEngraver
Date Made1785
Period18th century
Place MadeParis, France
Medium and MaterialsSilver.
Inscription and MarksOn obverse is a bust of Louis XV1; on reverse, within a laurel wreath ‘LES FREGATES/DU ROI DU FRANCE/LA BROUSSOLE/ET L’ASTROLABE/COMMANDEES PAR M.M./DE LA PEROUSE/ET DE LANGLE/PARTIES DU PORT DE BREST/EN JUIN 1785’.
Measurements60mm diameter
Object TypeMedallions and Convict Tokens
Object numberSF000693
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.
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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