Name/TitleNicholas Baudin, Captaine de Vaisseau, Commandant l’Expédition pour le tour du Monde
About this objectBaudin began his career in the merchant navy where he acquired a reputation as a sound navigator. He was commissioned into the navy in 1786 and undertook two expeditions to the West Indies to collect natural history specimens, experience which led to his appointment as commander of the Géographe, lead vessel of Napoleon’s major scientific voyage to the Southern hemisphere.
The voyage was successful in collecting and recording a spectacular array of natural history marvels, some of which were pursued at the express request of the Empress Josephine, and also resulted in the first full atlas of Australia, published in 1812. There was tension aboard between loyalist and revolutionary sympathisers and despite his evident ability, Baudin was unpopular with most of the scientists and many of the officers on board. Baudin died in Mauritius in 1803, and the official account of the voyage was published by Peron and Freycinet, both of whom downplayed Baudin’s role.
MakerFrançois Bonneville - Engraver
Maker RoleEngraver
Date Madec1800
Period19th century
Place MadeParis, France
Medium and MaterialsInk and paper.
TechniqueMezzotint
Measurements210mm x 135mm
Object TypeEuropean Portraits
Object numberSF000794
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