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ARTWORK FROM FREYCINET'S VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD IN THE CORVETTES 'URANIE' AND 'PHYSICIENNE', 1817-20 FREYCINET'S CIRCUMNAVIGATION TOOK HIM AND HIS CREW FROM TOULON IN SEPTEMBER 1817 TO TENERIFE, RIO DE JANEIRO, CAPE TOWN, MAURITIUS (ILE DE FRANCE), LA RéUNION (BOURBON), THE WEST COAST OF AUSTRALIA, TIMOR, THE CAROLINE, MARIANNE (LADRONES) AND SANDWICH (HAWAIIAN) ISLANDS, PORT JACKSON (SYDNEY), AND AROUND CAPE HORN. SHIPWRECKED OFF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS, THEY WERE RESCUED AND TAKEN UP THE EAST COAST OF SOUTH AMERICA TO RIO BEFORE RETURNING TO CHERBOURG IN OCTOBER, 1820, THE PRINCIPAL OBJECT OF CAPTAIN FREYCINET'S EXPEDTION WAS SCIENTIFIC: HE WAS CHARGED TO INVESTIGATE 'THE FIGURE OF THE EARTH', 'ELEMENTS OF TERRESTRIAL MAGNETISM' AND 'QUESTIONS OF METEROLOGY', AND HIS OFFICERS WERE ALSO EXPECTED TO MAKE VALUABLE ADDITIONS TO THE EXISTING TABLES OF LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE, AND TO COLLECT SPECIMENS FOR THE MUSEUMS. JACQUES ARAGO, THE GOVERNMENT DRAUGHTSMAN ATTACHED TO THE EXPEDITION, WAS CHARGED WITH 'A FAITHFUL REPRESENTATION OF ALL SUCH SPECIMENS AS THEIR WEIGHT OR LIABILITY TO BREAK WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO BRING AWAY; AND THAT HE SHOULD TAKE ACCURATE VIEWS OF THE DIFFERENT COASTS, WHICH, BESIDES THE USEFUL INFORMATION THEY WOULD FURNISH TO NAVIGATORS, WOULD HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF OCCASIONALLY OFFERING AGREABLE LANDSCAPES' AND 'FINALLY, IT WAS TO BE EXPECTED THAT CAPTAIN FREYCINET AND HIS COMPANIONS WOULD ADD NEW PARTICULARS TO THE HISTORY OF SAVAGE NATIONS.' (REPORT MADE TO THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES UPON THE VOYAGE ETC., 1821) THIS SAME REPORT PROCEEDED TO REVIEW THE COLLECTION OF DRAWINGS BROUGHT HOME FROM THE VOYAGE: 'ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE THAT HAS BEEN SEEN, BOTH FOR THE NUMBER AND VARIETY OF SUBJECTS. IT AFFORDS THE STRONGEST PROOF OF THE UNWEARIED ZEAL AND REMARKABLE INTELLIGENCE OF M.ARAGO, THE DRAFTSMAN TO THE EXPEDITION. IT CONSISTS OF ALMOST FIVE HUNDRED DRAWINGS, REPRESENTING LANDSCAPES, VIEWS OF THE COASTS, AND SUBJECTS OF ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY; ALSO OF A CONSIDERABLE SERIES OF DRAWINGS OF THE NATIVES OF THE DIFFERENT ISLANDS AT WHICH THE EXPEDITION TOUCHED, OF THEIR COSTUMES, OF THEIR HABITS, OF THEIR WEAPONS. THE PUBLICATION OF A PORTION OF THE DRAWINGS CONTAINED IN THIS RICH PORTFOLIO, WILL PRESENT THE MOST COMPLETE AND INTERESTING WORK OF THE KIND, WHICH ANY VOYAGE HAS YET PRODUCED.' (REPORT ETC., IX, DRAWINGS). A SELECTION OF ARAGO'S DRAWINGS AS WELL AS WORKS BY J.ALPHONSE PELLION, A MIDSHIPMAN ON THE URANIE, AND ADRIEN AIMé TAUNAY, WHO JOINED THE EXPEDITION AS SECOND DRAUGHTSMAN AT RIO, WERE PUBLISHED IN 1825 IN THE ATLAS HISTORIQUE WHICH ACCOMPANIED FREYCINET'S OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE. ARAGO HIMSELF HAD ALREADY PUBLISHED A GROUP OF HIS OWN DRAWINGS IN HIS NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD (LONDON, 1823), THE LATER EXPANDED FRENCH EDITION (J.ARAGO, SOUVENIRS D'UN AVEUGLE, VOYAGE AUTOUR DU MONDE, PARIS, 1846) WAS PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED, THOUGH WITH FANCIFUL ENGRAVINGS AT A CONSIDERABLE REMOVE FROM THE ORIGINAL DRAWINGS. TWENTY-FIVE OF THE ORIGINAL DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS BY ARAGO, PELLION AND TAUNAY WERE LATER REPRODUCED IN ROSE FREYCINET'S ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE (R. DE SAULCES DE FREYCINET, CAMPAGNE DE L'"URANIE" (1817-1820) ETC., PARIS, 1927). BRAZIL (LOTS 27-30) FREYCINET HAD INTENDED TO SAIL TO THE CAPE FROM FRANCE, VIA TENERIFE, BUT WINDS DROVE HIM WEST TO BRAZIL. HE SIGHTED THE COAST ON 4 DECEMBER 1817 AND ENTERED THE HARBOUR OF RIO DE JANEIRO TWO DAYS LATER, STAYING UNTIL THE END OF JANUARY 1818. FREYCINET AND HIS WIFE VISITED THE FRENCH PAINTER NICOLAS ANTOINE TAUNAY, WHO HAD COME TO BRAZIL IN 1816 AS PART OF THE FRENCH ARTISTIC MISSION INVITED BY THE KING TO FOUND AN ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS IN RIO DE JANEIRO. TAUNAY'S FIFTEEN YEAR OLD SON AND PUPIL ADRIEN AIMé, JOINED THE URANIE AT RIO AS SECOND DRAUGHTSMAN TO THE VOYAGE.

J. ALPHONSE PELLION (FL. 1817-1820)

MARINE. VUE DE LA RADE DE RIO DE JANEIRO. - (YACHT ET CANOT DU ROI DU BRéSIL)

Details

J. ALPHONSE PELLION (FL. 1817-1820)
MARINE. VUE DE LA RADE DE RIO DE JANEIRO. - (YACHT ET CANOT DU ROI DU BRéSIL)
INSCRIBED 'MR. PELLION' (LOWER RIGHT), DATED 'LE 18 FEVR. 1818' (LOWER LEFT), INSCRIBED AS TITLE, WITH INSCRIPTION 'JOURNAL MME DE FREYCINET P.8' (UPPER LEFT)
WATERCOLOUR AND GOLD PAINT ON PAPER, WATERMARK VAN DER LEY
11 1/8 x 14¼in. (28.2 x 36.2cm.)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

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