Name/TitleFar East Map
About this objectThe first accurate map of the Far East and China by Jan Huyghen van Linschoten’s Itinerario.
The cartographical work of Bartolomeu Lasso served as a model for these charts with the Far East and the Malay Archipelago being shown in such detail as was known only to the Portuguese at the time and had never before been shown on a printed map. Only a portion of the south-land (Australia) can be seen: “Beach” the auriferous province, albeit at this stage undiscovered by Europeans.
This example in the original colour comes from the rare first 1596 (Dutch edition) of the Itinerario, the book that was directly responsible for the Dutch voyages to the East and their success, and that was indirectly responsible for the downfall of the Portuguese Empire in the East.
The colouring is contemporary and applied at or very shortly after the time of production. Original colour is very rare for this map because the publishers of travel books like this did not sell coloured copies of the book or have in-house colouring departments like atlas publishers. Buyers would have to take the books to a freelance colourist to get the professional colouring done.
MakerJan Huyghen van Linschoten - Cartographer
Maker RoleCartographer
Date Made1596
Period16th century
Place MadeAmsterdam, Netherlands
Measurements390mm x 525mm
Object TypeMaps and Charts
Object numberSF001096
Copyright LicenceAttribution - Non-commercial - No Derivatives (cc)
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Date range: 1541-1836
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Date range: 1629-1890
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Date range: 1793-1849
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Date range: 1768-c1850
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Date range: 1619-1880
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Date range: 1541-1836
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Date range: 1629-1854
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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