Name/TitleVue de la Ville de Sydney et environs
About this objectRomauld Georges Ménard (or Mesnard), naval artist, was the draughtsman under Captain Abel Aubert du Petit Thouars aboard VENUS, 1836-39. This expedition, ordered by King Louis Philippe partly to lay formal claim to Tahiti, included a visit to Sydney in November and December 1838.
Lithographs after Ménard’s drawings appeared in the Atlas Pittoresque in 1841. Part of the 10 volume official account of the voyage (Paris, 1840-1846).
Two of Ménard’s images were reproduced as lithographs in Thouars’ official account of the voyage, Voyage autour du monde sur la frégate La Venus 1836-1839 par M. Abel du Petit-Thouars. One plate is titled Vue de la rade de Sydney et du Fort Macquarie. The other view, a doublr plate, is taken from the present watercolour and is titled Vue de Sydney et de l’entree de la rivière de Parramatta.
MakerRomauld Georges Ménard - Artist
Maker RoleArtist
Date Made1838
Period19th century
Medium and MaterialsPaper and watercolour
Place MadeSydney, Australia
Inscription and MarksSigned and dated: Menard, Sydney, 1838.
Object TypeLandscape Paintings
Object numbersf001445
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