Two very rare aquatint prints of Macao, the Portuguese port in southern China. Macao and Hong Kong were key ports in the South China Sea as they offered safe harbor to ships carrying on to Formosa, Japan, or the Americas. Featured in the travelogue are a print of a convent in Macao and a more general view of the port.
1. Couvent de la Guia à Macao
Print of a convent or monastery in Macau. Because it was under Portuguese rule for so long, Macau has a large population of Roman Catholics. Some of these convents can still be seen today. In the image, three students can be seen chatting by the water.
2. Macao
Print of the view of Macau. Like Hong Kong, the port city began its life as a leased territory from the Qing dynasty for foreign traders. Macau was eventually given to the Portuguese in perpetuity though later returned to Chinese governance in 1999. In the image, a rowboat makes its way through the waters.
This historic engraving is from Cyrille Pierre Theodore Laplace's Voyage around the world by the seas of India and China of the corvette of Her Majesty La Favorite executed during the 1830s, 1831 and 1832 under the command of Mr. Laplace, Commander. The work was published under the direction of M. de Sainson in Paris by Arthus Bertrand in 1835.
The work included beautiful views of Reunion Island and Mauritius, Singapore, Manila, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro. The work has been described as "perhaps the finest series of plates to any of the picturesque voyages" (Sabin 38985) and "...sumptuous.... They are some of the most beautiful plates of the kind in existence..." (Borba de Moraes p. 458)
Captain Laplace began his around the world voyage from Toulon on December 30, 1829 aboard the corvette La Favorite. He was commissioned to circumnavigate the globe by the French government. He passed through Gibralter, Goree, Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Saint-Louis de la Reunion, Indies, Singapore, Manila, Canton, Indonesia, Sydney, New Zealand, Vaplparaiso Cape Horn, and Rio de Janeiro before returning to Toulon on April 21, 1832.
"In December 1829, Laplace was commissioned to take an expedition to India, the East Indies and South East Asia, and then, if he chose to do so, proceed through the South Pacific. His instructions were to provide protection for French merchant vessels and obtain at each port-of-call information which might be of value to French trade." (Hill)
"From the scientific viewpoint, Laplace’s voyage was one of the most successful. The maps made from surveys in the Pacific and the collections which were assembled became famous during that period." (Borba de Moraes)
