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Dinner menu from MV JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEVELT

Maker Nederland Line [Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland] (1870 - 1970)

Date30 May 1962

Object number00000813

NameMenu

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 250 x 184 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from M L Breaden

Terms

DescriptionThis dinner menu from the Dutch ocean liner, MV JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEVELT, depicts three native Australian Gouldian Finches.HistoryMV JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEVELT was the largest motor-ship to be built in Holland at the time of its launch in Amsterdam by Nederland Shipbuilding Company, in 1929. It originally served on trade routes between the Netherlands and the East Indies, however, throughout World War II, it was requisitioned by Britain as a troop transport. In the years between 1950 and 1958, MV JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEVELT carried Dutch and European immigrants wanting to escape their war-torn countries to Australia. The ship served as a passenger vessel until the Dutch migrant-transport charter expired in 1958. Nederland Line transformed the ship into a luxury cruise liner in 1959 and it toured from Amsterdam to England, Australia, New Zealand, South America and North America. There are a large number of these colourful menus in the museum’s collection. This series of menus feature a selection of prints by renowned ornithologist and artist John Gould. The prints consist of native animals from various destinations included in the ship’s voyage around the world. This particular illustration reproduces John Gould’s illustration of the Gouldian Finches, found in his most famous work, The Birds of Australia, 1840-1848, volume III.SignificanceDuring the early 1960s, MV JOHAN VAN OLDENBARNEVELT was employed as a round-the-world cruise ship which included stops in Fremantle, Sydney and Melbourne. Shipboard menus were the most common type of souvenir collected by passengers and these colourful examples illustrate how Australia was promoted to international visitors travelling on this luxury cruise liner.