Name/TitleCarte Réduite des Terres Australes
About this objectEarly French map of Australia and the west coast of New Zealand prior to the discoveries of Cook on the East Coast.
The image shows the coasts of Australia or New Holland as it was called at the time, detailing mainly the discoveries of the Dutch including Abel Tasman. Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), discovered by Tasman in 1642, is conjectured to be joined to the mainland in an unbroken coastline stretching all the way up to New Guinea and Quiros’ discovery of Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu) is erroneously shown as part of the Queensland coastline.
Jacques Nicolas Bellin the elder (1703-1772) was first chief hydrographic engineer of the "Dépôt des cartes, plans et journaux du Ministère de la Marine," charged by Louis XIV with mapping the coasts of France first and then the rest of the world. He was also a member of the Royal Society of London. As Hydrographer to the King, he undertook his commission to map all known coasts of the world.
MakerJacques Nicolas Bellin - Cartographer
Maker RoleCartographer
Date Madec1753
Period18th century
Place MadeParis, France
Medium and MaterialsPaper, ink.
TechniqueEngraving
Object TypeMaps and Charts
Object numberSF000815
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