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• Auction House:
  Theodore Bruce
• Sale Name:
  Fine Aboriginal & Oceanic Arts
• Sale Date:
  12 Mar 2017 ~ 11am
• Lot #:
  254
• Lot Description:
  Portrait of a woman and of a warrior, with shields and clubs Oui re kine & Norou gal derry
  This drawings is associated with the Baudin Expedition to Australia in the early 18th century and come from a private collection in France. The drawing is associated with the Baudin Expedition and the resulting book documenting this voyage published in 1807. The artist is unknown but the work does not appear to be the hand of either Nicolas Petit or Charles Alexandre Lessuer, the two official artists of the Baudin Expedition. Please see below for further information regarding this important historical drawing.
  33 x 24.5 cm
• Provenance:
  From a French private collection. Previously Mark Blackburn Collection, Hawaii. Blackburn stated he bought them in Le Havre, but no additional provenance.
• Notes:
  Baudin expedition Nicolas Baudin (1754-1803) led a French expedition at the turn of the XVIII century in the south seas. The main objective was to complete the cartography of the Australian coasts, and to improve the scientific knowledge of the time. Two vessels, "le Géographe" and "le Naturaliste" left Le Havre in October 1800 under the command of Baudin. The expedition called in at the Canary Islands, Cape of Good Hope and then Australia. On board these vessels there were two young painters in charge of documenting the voyage, Nicolas Petit (who made the portraits), whereas animals and ethnographic specimen were by Charles Alexandre Lesueur. Landing in Tasmania Whereas explorations of strange countries during the previous centuries had been motivated only by the spirit of conquest of new territories and their natural resources, the Enlightenment instilled the humanistic views of sharing the advancements of civilization with native peoples, and conversely improving the general knowledge by discovering and studying new countries and tribal customs. Friendly contact took place between Aborigines and the French expeditions led by d'Entrecasteaux (1792) and by Baudin in 1802. These are almost the only testimony left on these groups of Aborigines people. Publication The Baudin expedition has been published in 1807, "Voyage de Découvertes aux Terres Australes Execute par Ordre de SM l'empereur et roi". The historical part was written by Francois Péron (1775-1810). An Atlas of engravings by Lesueur and Petit was directed by Jacques-Gerard Milbert (1766-1840). This atlas had 40 etchings. A second volume has been published in 1816. A second edition, with an addition of 60 plates was published in 1824. The fate of the drawings The curator of Le Havre museum wrote in 1883, "The documents concerning these subjects (the history of the peoples and the natural history of the Voyage to the Southern Lands), which were then new (notes, descriptions and drawings) had unfortunately been scattered. The most important part had remained in the Lesueur family; other parts had been sold, mainly the drawings of Petit and Milbert portraying the inhabitants of Van Diemen's land." He also added in a letter that he found some drawings for sale in a bookshop in Le Havre, in 1883. Concerning these drawings: It seems that the Aborigines portraits are not by the hand of Petit. However once a portrait was made, several copies were immediately made on board the vessel. Therefore, we have several versions existing. Moreover, after the expeditions, several copies were made whether for the preparation of the printed version, or subsequent printed versions based on the first edition of the Voyage. Petit passed away very young, and Lesueur and Milbert took care of the 1807 edition of the relation of the expedition. - Drawings made on a thin paper. They look like notes, with indications of colors and captions, rather than final drawings. - They are not signed. - For the first drawing it is possible to identify watercolour, drawing, and engraving in the collections of Le Havre.
• Estimate:
  A$12,000 - 16,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Books & Manuscripts

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.