Nouvelle Caledonie
Author
Albert Étienne de Montémont
(French, 1788 - 1861)
Maker
L Massard
Engraver
Choubard
(fl. 1807 - 1830)
Datec 1835
Object number00031485
NameEngraving
MediumColoured engraving on paper
DimensionsOverall: 240 x 145 mm, 0.005 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionAn engraving titled 'Nouvelle Caledonie' depicting a woman of New Caledonia. Beneath the image the plate number '16',
Beneath the title is the text reference for the plate 'Voy. Autour du Monde. Cook. T.4 P.447 Dumont d'Urville P.304', the accounts of the voyages of Captain James Cook and Dumont d'Urville in the multi-volume work 'Bibliothèque universelle des voyages, effectués par mer ou par terre dans les diverses parties du monde ...' by Albert Étienne de Montémont.HistoryThis plate, No. 16, is from 'Bibliothèque universelle des voyages, effectués par mer ou par terre dans les diverses parties du monde, depuis les premières découvertes jusqu'a nos jours' by Albert Étienne de Montémont, published by Armand-Aubrée, Paris 1833. Volumes 1 - 21 are subtitled 'Voyages Autour de Monde'. This plate is referenced to both Cook and Dumont d'Urville.
This print is one of a collection of French images that highlights the European presence in the Pacific and their simplified impressions of the Indigenous cultures they were encountering. The costume studies are a gallery of 'types' - the 'noble' Hawaiian, the ‘savage 'Maori or the 'seductive' Tahitian.
SignificanceOne of eleven costume studies of South Seas' and East Indies' islanders, illustrating Freycinet's circumnavigation account 'Voyage autour du monde'.
