Name/TitleJ S C Dumont D’Urville Commander l’Expedition de l’ASTROLABE
About this objectPortrait of Dumont d’Urville, commander of two major scientific expeditions to the Southern Hemisphere
Lithograph. 460mm x 340 mm. Paris, Tastu, 1833. Portrait of Jules-Sebastien-Cesar Dumont d’Urville.
Dumont d’Urville (1790-1842) served on the Pacific voyage of the COQUILLE under the command of Duperrey, and upon return to France in 1825 was promoted to command his own expedition to Australia and the Pacific. The first voyage proved to be of major scientific importance, as the French visited New South Wales, New Guinea, New Zealand and a number of Polynesian islands, amassing a significant collection of natural history specimens in the process. In 1837 Dumont d’Urville returned to the Pacific on a voyage which also saw him undertake over three months of perilous charting in Antarctic waters. Incidentally, while conducting a hydrographic survey aboard the French naval vessel CHEVRETTE in 1820, Dumont d’Urville was instrumental in acquiring the Venus de Milo for France.
The now immortal classical marble had been accidentally unearthed by a peasant on Melos and sold to an agent of the Turkish sultan. Using keen diplomatic pressure, d’Urville had the statue intercepted and it is now a national treasure of France – for his efforts he earned the Legion d’Honneur.
MakerAntoine Maurin - Artist
Maker RoleArtist
Edition1833
Date Made1833
Period19th century
Medium and MaterialsLithograph. Paper and ink.
Place MadeParis, France
TechniqueLithograph
Measurements460mm x 340 mm
Object TypeEuropean Portraits
Object numberSF000796
Copyright Licence
Attribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
Explore by category
Maps and Charts
Date range: 1541-1836
Ship Models
Date range: 1629-1890
Maritime Paintings
Date range: 1793-1849
Manuscripts and Ephemera
Date range: 1768-c1850
Medallions & Convict Tokens
Date range: 1619-1880
Indigenous History
Date range: c1800-1959
Landscapes
Date range: 1768-c1850
Books
Date range: 1694-c1850
Currency and Shares
Date range: 1624-1823
Printed Material
Date range: 1541-1836
Maritime Archaeology
Date range: 1629-1854
Curator's corner
New acquisitions, staff favourites and curios
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