Sydney, etablissement principal de la Nouvelle Galles du Sud

Artist Barthelemy Lauvergne (1805 - 1871)

Engraver Sigismond Himely (1801 - 1872)

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

Date1833

Object number00000856

NameLithograph

MediumAquatint lithograph on paper

DimensionsOverall: 223 x 321 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionAn engraving by Sigismond Himely after a drawing by Barthelemy Lauvergne titled 'Sydney, etablissement principal de la Nouvelle Galles du Sud' ('Sydney, the principal establishment of New South Wales'). Rear Admiral Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842) was a French explorer and naval officer who explored the South and Western Pacific, Australia, New Zealand and Antarctica. This lithograph is one of many by official naval artist Louis Auguste de Sainson (1800-1887) which depicts d'Urville's 1826-1829 voyage to the Pacific aboard the French corvette ASTROLABE. This voyage included skirting the coast of southern Australia, developing new relief maps of the South Island of New Zealand, visiting the archipelagos of Tonga and Fiji, formulating the first relief maps of the Loyalty Islands (part of French New Caledonia) and exploring the coast of New Guinea. HistoryBarthelemy Lauvernge visited Sydney as secretary and artist with Dumont d'Urville in 1826 - 1829 and later with Laplace 1829 - 1832. This print comes from the Laplace expedition 'Voyage autour du monde par les mers de l'Inde et de la Chine de la corvette de sa Majeste La Favorite execute pendant les annees 1830, 1831, 1832 sous le commandement de M. Laplace'. SignificanceThis lithograph would be based on original pencil or pen & ink sketches or a watercolour painted by Louis de Sainson during the visit of the ASTROLABE to Sydney (Port Jackson) in December 1826.

It is significant in that it provides a visual record of one of the great French exploratory ventures of the 19th century (and, incidentally, one of the last). The engraving is important as a source in both the history of European world exploration and, more specifically, of the European relationship with Australia and its inhabitants