Vue de Sandy Bay (Ascension)

Artist Louis Auguste de Sainson (French, 1801 - 1887)

Lithographer Achille Saint-Aulaire (1801 - 1889)

Date1826 - 1829

Object number00046839

NameLithograph

MediumLithograph on paper

DimensionsOverall: 335 x 530 x 1 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionView of Sandy Bay (Ascension Island) showing two longboats with shore parties making for a sheltered landing place. Lithograph by A. St Aulaire after artwork by Louis de Sainson.HistoryThe La Perouse expedition’s demise was a great disappointment in France and its disappearance was a major maritime mystery in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The expedition's royal patron (King Louis XVI) is said to have asked, shortly before his execution by guillotine in 1793, whether finally there was some news of La Perouse. Dumont d'Urville's two expeditions to the Pacific in the ASTROLABE (1826 - 1829; and 1837 - 1840, with LA ZELEE, commanded by Captain Jacquinot) brought back significant scientific collections which emulate the achievements of James Cook in the 1770s and parallel the work of Charles Darwin aboard the BEAGLE. As well as scientists, both expeditions included artists of considerable talent. On the first expedition the chief artist was Louis de Sainson. Ernest Goupil was the official artist during part of the second ASTROLABE expedition; however, after he died during the voyage he was succeded by the expedition's assistant surgeon Louis le Breton. In modern Anthropology Dumont d'Urville is recognised for initiating and applying a classification system to various ethnic groups; describing them as Austronesian, Polynesian, Melanesian or Micronesian.SignificanceDumont d'Urville's first ASTROLABE expedition was the first French expedition to visit Vanikoro Island, following reports that traces of the La Perouse expedition had been discovered in 1826 by Captain Peter Dillon, an Anglo-Irish sandalwood trader.