Ile Guam. Mariannais
Author
Albert Étienne de Montémont
(French, 1788 - 1861)
Maker
L Massard
Engraver
Choubard
(fl. 1807 - 1830)
Datec 1835
Object number00031493
NameEngraving
MediumColoured engraving on paper
DimensionsOverall: 239 x 155 mm, 0.006 kg
ClassificationsArt
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionHeavily tattooed Guamian warrior (Mariana Islands)HistoryThis plate, No. 15, 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 illustrates the account of Louis de Freycinet's voyages in the Pacific.
Louis de Freycinet was a French naval officer who had participated as the chief cartographer/hydrographer in the Baudin expedition. As one of the crew of LE NATURALISTE, he was held in high regard by Baudin and eventually entrusted with the command of one of the expedition's auxillary vessels -the CASUARINA, a 20 ton schooner purchased in Port Jackson- in which de Freycinet was tasked to carry out independent surveys of parts of the southern and western Australian coast during 1803.
De Freycinet subsequently collaborated with the naturalist Peron, who had been on board LE GEOGRAPHE, on the analysis and presentation of the findings from the Baudin expedition; two volumes and several charts were published between 1807 and 1816.
On the strength of this work, de Freycinet was promoted to the rank of ''Capitaine de vaisseau'' and offered command of another exploring expedition to complete Baudin's original mission in Australian and South Pacific waters.
In command of the corvette L'URANIE, de Freycinet sailed from Toulon in September 1817 and subsequently spent three years at sea. The expedition explored and charted Shark Bay in Western Australia as well as many islands in the East Indies and Pacific Ocean, including the Moluccan, the Caroline and Mariana islands. The expedition finally put in at Port Jackson in November 1819 before returning home via Cape Horn. The URANIE was wrecked in the Falkland Islands in February 1820. As a result, de Freycinat was forced to purchase a replacement ship, which he named LA PHYSICIENNE.
De Freycinet's voyage in the URANIE was especially remarkable because of the fact that Rose de Freycinet, his wife, accompanied him during the entire voyage. She had joined the expedition clandestinely, having come on board disguised as the son of one of de Freycinet's officers. Mrs de Freycinet's journal survived the shipwreck and was published.
Bibliography:
F. Péron and L. Freycinet, Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes: Exécuté par Ordre de sa Majeste, l’Empereur et Roi, sur les Corvettes le Geographe, le Naturaliste et la Goelette le Casuarina, Pendant les Annees 1800, 1801, 1802, 1803 et 1804, vols 1-2 (Paris, 1807-16)
L. de Freycinet, Voyage Autour du Monde, Entrepris par Ordre du Roi ... Exécuté sur les Corvettes de S. M. l'Uranie et la Physicienne Pendant les Annees 1817, 1818, 1819 et 1820: Historique, vols 1-2 (Paris, 1825)SignificanceOne of eleven costume studies of South Seas' and East Indies' islanders from de Freycinet's circumnavigation account 'Voyage autour du monde' (1817-20) This image of a tattooed warrior from the Mariana Islands reflects European interest in Pacific ethnography during the 19th century.
