rif. 225135Paris, 1814 8 pièces en un vol. in-8, basane fauve racinée, dos lisse orné de filets, guirlandes et symboles militaires dorés, pièce de titre cerise, encadrement de simple filet à froid sur les plats, tranches marbrées (reliure de l'époque). Coiffes rognées, coins inférieurs abîmés.
1855rif. 46844Tokyo ca. 1855. Japanese Print of Perry's Ships in Tokyo Harbor Large wood block print comprised of two sheets showing the disposition of the Japanese soldiers and ships in preparation for the arrival of Commodore Perry's American fleet seen sailing into Tokyo harbor at the right side of the image. The top third of the print is comprised of text in Japanese characters. Three large American ships dominate the right side of the print while several smaller boats dot the rest of the harbor. The whole is dotted with Japanese characters denoting various people and places around the harbor. Perry first arrived in Japan on July 8 1853 with a fleet of four ships flying his pennant on the steam frigate Susquehanna. This first visit lasted ten days and culminated on July 14 with Perry's presentation of a letter from the President of the United States to the Japanese commissioners. Perry then absented himself for seven months returning on February 11 1854 for a stay of over four months. He negotiated a treaty opening Japan to trade with the western world providing for a U.S. consul in Japan and protecting visiting ships and crews. Perry's visit to Japan remains one of the most important events in the diplomatic history between western and eastern nations. A handsome print showing the Japanese side of this important historic event. 24½ x 16 inches. Matted. Old fold lines some minor wear and soiling. Near fine. unknown books
1853rif. 34749Edo 1853. Watercolour and ink drawing on Japanese paper. A contemporary Japanese watercolour of Commodore Perry and members of his expedition produced at the moment of the American squadron’s arrival in Japan and the opening of sustained diplomatic contact between Japan and the United States. This lively drawing belongs to the immediate visual culture generated by Commodore Matthew C. Perry's arrival in Japan in 1853. Perry entered Edo Bay in July 1853 to deliver President Fillmore's request for a treaty and returned the following year leading to the Treaty of Kanagawa on 31 March 1854. The event prompted wide Japanese interest in the appearance dress equipment and conduct of the visiting Americans and images of the "Black Ships" and their crews circulated in manuscript painted and printed form. The composition presents three American figures isolated against the paper ground arranged almost as a study of types. At right Commodore Perry is shown seated in a chair wearing a dark naval coat and holding his hat. At center stands an armed crewman or marine in a red jacket holding a musket upright; at left another crewman kneels while looking through a telescope or spyglass. The emphasis falls on uniform posture weaponry and optical instrument details that would have marked the Americans as visually and technologically unfamiliar to Japanese observers. The drawing is especially interesting as a Japanese interpretation of the expedition distinct from the official American pictorial record produced by artists such as Wilhelm Heine. The Japanese manuscript images such as the present work preserve a different perspective shaped by local observation report and curiosity. unknown books
1853rif. 347481853. Three woodblock-printed sheets on mulberry paper. Mild edge wear old folds. A detailed revealing group of late Tokugawa samurai reference sheets recording the names ranks stipends heraldry standards and service obligations through which the shogunate and Edo public understood military readiness at the moment of Perry's arrival. Commodore Matthew C. Perry anchored off Uraga at the entrance to Edo Bay in July 1853. His arrival made visible the vulnerability of the Tokugawa capital and produced an immediate demand for information about coastal defence domain strength and the lords responsible for guarding the approaches to Edo. Kawaraban and related broadsides answered that demand in compressed visual form combining names crests military symbols income figures and geographical or administrative data. The first printed sheet appears to be an earlier roster of Edo office-holders or guard personnel. Its tabular format with names offices crests and standards records the recognitional system already in place within Tokugawa administration before the Perry crisis sharpened the public appetite for such information. The manuscript sheet is ruled into a large grid with headings formed from the twelve zodiac signs and the four seasons including Rat Ox Tiger Hare and the seasonal headings. The entries appear to record named houses Lords or retainers against recurring seasonal and cyclical categories probably for service attendance or ceremonial obligation. The third sheet is headed "Rekko yushinroku" here translated as "Register of Valiant Retainers of the Lords." It lists major daimyo houses and their principal retainers with domain or house headings names titles stipend figures in koku family crests standards and related insignia. Visible regional or house designations include "Kaga" "Owari" "Kii" "Satsuma" "Higo" and "Tosa." The sheet gives a graphic register of the daimyo world mobilised or imagined as mobilised around the defence of Edo Bay. Together the sheets preserve the administrative and visual language of Tokugawa defence at a moment of acute pressure. They are not formal shogunal orders and the first sheet may predate Perrys arrival but they show how late Edo Japan translated rank obligation military identity and coastal defence into portable tabular form. Their compression the names of Lords and retainers the scale of domains the crests and standards by which armed households could be recognised and the bureaucratic habits of a regime suddenly forced to account for its capacity to defend the country reveals these documents' immediacy and importance. unknown books
1853rif. 347471853. 9 3/4 x 6 7/8 inches. 31; 31; 61pp. plus a loose sheet. Worming not affecting legibility occasionally touching a letter. Some dampstaining and dust soiling. Original paper wrappers stitched as issued. Contemporary manuscript annotations in red ink in one volume Vital contemporary Japanese manuscript accounts of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's arrival in Uraga Bay in July 1853 preserving official documentary and observational responses by Japanese officials and participants to the encounter that transformed Japan's relations with the wider world. The first manuscript Uraga kurofune ni kansuru comprises an official account of events following Perry's arrival off Uraga. The volume is especially notable for its contemporary red-ink annotations indicating active correction or revision of the text. It records the encounter from within the administrative world of the Tokugawa shogunate as Japanese officials confronted an American squadron that included two steam frigates. The second account Edo Uraga Beikoku fune torai ikken records the arrival of the American ships and provides a contemporary Japanese narrative of the encounter. Its double-page manuscript sketch of the Uraga coastline with the arrangement of Perry's vessels offshore reflects the immediate effort of Japanese observers and officials to describe classify and understand the unfamiliar ships equipment and conduct of the American expedition. The third manuscript Gasshukoku shokan wage utsushi preserves contemporary texts associated with the shogunate's handling of the American communications. Abe Masahiro chief senior councillor in the Tokugawa shogunate accepted the American letter ordered translations of the official letter and related documents and circulated them among daimyo for advice. This manuscript includes Japanese translations of letters from President Millard Fillmore and Commodore Perry presented by the American expedition in July 1853. The accompanying loose manuscript sheet gives a description of one of the Black Ships. Together the three volumes and loose sheet offer a substantial Japanese record of Perry's first visit combining official reporting translated diplomatic correspondence visual observation and contemporary manuscript transmission. They belong to the immediate documentary culture produced by the arrival of the Black Ships before Perry's return in 1854 and the signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Peace and Amity at Kanagawa. unknown books
1853rif. 34749Edo 1853. Watercolour and ink drawing on Japanese paper. A contemporary Japanese watercolour of Commodore Perry and members of his expedition produced at the moment of the American squadron’s arrival in Japan and the opening of sustained diplomatic contact between Japan and the United States. This lively drawing belongs to the immediate visual culture generated by Commodore Matthew C. Perry's arrival in Japan in 1853. Perry entered Edo Bay in July 1853 to deliver President Fillmore's request for a treaty and returned the following year leading to the Treaty of Kanagawa on 31 March 1854. The event prompted wide Japanese interest in the appearance dress equipment and conduct of the visiting Americans and images of the "Black Ships" and their crews circulated in manuscript painted and printed form. The composition presents three American figures isolated against the paper ground arranged almost as a study of types. At right Commodore Perry is shown seated in a chair wearing a dark naval coat and holding his hat. At center stands an armed crewman or marine in a red jacket holding a musket upright; at left another crewman kneels while looking through a telescope or spyglass. The emphasis falls on uniform posture weaponry and optical instrument details that would have marked the Americans as visually and technologically unfamiliar to Japanese observers. The drawing is especially interesting as a Japanese interpretation of the expedition distinct from the official American pictorial record produced by artists such as Wilhelm Heine. The Japanese manuscript images such as the present work preserve a different perspective shaped by local observation report and curiosity. unknown
1855rif. 46844Tokyo ca. 1855. Japanese Print of Perry's Ships in Tokyo Harbor Large wood block print comprised of two sheets showing the disposition of the Japanese soldiers and ships in preparation for the arrival of Commodore Perry's American fleet seen sailing into Tokyo harbor at the right side of the image. The top third of the print is comprised of text in Japanese characters. Three large American ships dominate the right side of the print while several smaller boats dot the rest of the harbor. The whole is dotted with Japanese characters denoting various people and places around the harbor. Perry first arrived in Japan on July 8 1853 with a fleet of four ships flying his pennant on the steam frigate Susquehanna. This first visit lasted ten days and culminated on July 14 with Perry's presentation of a letter from the President of the United States to the Japanese commissioners. Perry then absented himself for seven months returning on February 11 1854 for a stay of over four months. He negotiated a treaty opening Japan to trade with the western world providing for a U.S. consul in Japan and protecting visiting ships and crews. Perry's visit to Japan remains one of the most important events in the diplomatic history between western and eastern nations. A handsome print showing the Japanese side of this important historic event. 24½ x 16 inches. Matted. Old fold lines some minor wear and soiling. Near fine. unknown
1853rif. 347481853. Three woodblock-printed sheets on mulberry paper. Mild edge wear old folds. A detailed revealing group of late Tokugawa samurai reference sheets recording the names ranks stipends heraldry standards and service obligations through which the shogunate and Edo public understood military readiness at the moment of Perry's arrival. Commodore Matthew C. Perry anchored off Uraga at the entrance to Edo Bay in July 1853. His arrival made visible the vulnerability of the Tokugawa capital and produced an immediate demand for information about coastal defence domain strength and the lords responsible for guarding the approaches to Edo. Kawaraban and related broadsides answered that demand in compressed visual form combining names crests military symbols income figures and geographical or administrative data. The first printed sheet appears to be an earlier roster of Edo office-holders or guard personnel. Its tabular format with names offices crests and standards records the recognitional system already in place within Tokugawa administration before the Perry crisis sharpened the public appetite for such information. The manuscript sheet is ruled into a large grid with headings formed from the twelve zodiac signs and the four seasons including Rat Ox Tiger Hare and the seasonal headings. The entries appear to record named houses Lords or retainers against recurring seasonal and cyclical categories probably for service attendance or ceremonial obligation. The third sheet is headed "Rekko yushinroku" here translated as "Register of Valiant Retainers of the Lords." It lists major daimyo houses and their principal retainers with domain or house headings names titles stipend figures in koku family crests standards and related insignia. Visible regional or house designations include "Kaga" "Owari" "Kii" "Satsuma" "Higo" and "Tosa." The sheet gives a graphic register of the daimyo world mobilised or imagined as mobilised around the defence of Edo Bay. Together the sheets preserve the administrative and visual language of Tokugawa defence at a moment of acute pressure. They are not formal shogunal orders and the first sheet may predate Perrys arrival but they show how late Edo Japan translated rank obligation military identity and coastal defence into portable tabular form. Their compression the names of Lords and retainers the scale of domains the crests and standards by which armed households could be recognised and the bureaucratic habits of a regime suddenly forced to account for its capacity to defend the country reveals these documents' immediacy and importance. unknown
1853rif. 347471853. 9 3/4 x 6 7/8 inches. 31; 31; 61pp. plus a loose sheet. Worming not affecting legibility occasionally touching a letter. Some dampstaining and dust soiling. Original paper wrappers stitched as issued. Contemporary manuscript annotations in red ink in one volume Vital contemporary Japanese manuscript accounts of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's arrival in Uraga Bay in July 1853 preserving official documentary and observational responses by Japanese officials and participants to the encounter that transformed Japan's relations with the wider world. The first manuscript Uraga kurofune ni kansuru comprises an official account of events following Perry's arrival off Uraga. The volume is especially notable for its contemporary red-ink annotations indicating active correction or revision of the text. It records the encounter from within the administrative world of the Tokugawa shogunate as Japanese officials confronted an American squadron that included two steam frigates. The second account Edo Uraga Beikoku fune torai ikken records the arrival of the American ships and provides a contemporary Japanese narrative of the encounter. Its double-page manuscript sketch of the Uraga coastline with the arrangement of Perry's vessels offshore reflects the immediate effort of Japanese observers and officials to describe classify and understand the unfamiliar ships equipment and conduct of the American expedition. The third manuscript Gasshukoku shokan wage utsushi preserves contemporary texts associated with the shogunate's handling of the American communications. Abe Masahiro chief senior councillor in the Tokugawa shogunate accepted the American letter ordered translations of the official letter and related documents and circulated them among daimyo for advice. This manuscript includes Japanese translations of letters from President Millard Fillmore and Commodore Perry presented by the American expedition in July 1853. The accompanying loose manuscript sheet gives a description of one of the Black Ships. Together the three volumes and loose sheet offer a substantial Japanese record of Perry's first visit combining official reporting translated diplomatic correspondence visual observation and contemporary manuscript transmission. They belong to the immediate documentary culture produced by the arrival of the Black Ships before Perry's return in 1854 and the signing of the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Peace and Amity at Kanagawa. unknown
1854rif. 218512Japan. Circa1854. Black and white wood block print kawaraban 17.8 x 14cm This kawaraban is dated February 1854 and shows the retreat of the defending lords after the departure of American ships. The caption states that about 1000 people took part in the parade which was led by commanding samurai on horseback with a large cannon drawn at the rear. As it was a peaceful retreat the atmosphere appears relaxed and cheerful. . unknown
1854rif. 218513Japan. Circa1854. Black and white woodblock kawaraban 35.6 x 48.7cm ink mark upper section but text still legible otherwise a very good copy. This kawaraban dated 20 February 1854 elaborates a list of the defending lords following Commodore Perry's second visit to Edo Bay. The chart lists approximately 40 feudal lords mobilised to defend Edo each accompanied by detailed information including their house crests defensive positions and troop numbers. The total mobilisation is noted as around 375600 troops. . unknown
1853rif. 218506Japan. Circa1853. Black and white woodblock kawaraban 17.7 x 24cm In this kawaraban the American crew are assembled ready to board their rowing boats in anticipation of being transferred to their sailing ships. A group of American crew with pointed hats are in the middle while Japanese guards with black hats in an area surrounded by screens guard them at fore and rear. Numerous boats are ready on the beach with flags fluttering. . unknown
1854rif. 218390Japan. Circa1854. Black and white woodblock print 18 x 24cm a little light soiling very good. In this kawaraban two humorous and satirical poems concerning foreign arrivals are featured accompanied by illustrations. Both poems relate to foreigners and foreign ships clearly demonstrating that ordinary people were deeply interested in the arrival of foreign vessels and expressed their curiosity in various ways . unknown
1854rif. 218389Japan. Circa1854. Black and white woodblock kawaraban 18 x 24cm. Small break in the border line along upper edge as issued. Small stain lower margin not affecting the imageotherwise good. This kawaraban features eight types of headgear worn by American crew members when they arrived in Japan including both ceremonial items and an interpreter's hat. It also illustrates a sword with its sheath alongside a bayonet and a hand-gun. Each item is depicted in meticulous detail reflecting a high level of curiosity about the foreign visitors. . unknown
1854rif. 215028Japan. Circa1854. Black and white woodblock map with illustrations 32.2 x 41.5cm. Laid down on thick paper. Printed black border line at lower corner and occasionally in other areas along the border not printed otherwise good. This woodblock print map shows the defence layout around Tokyo Bay against the arrival of the American fleet. Names of lords who are responsible for defending particular areas are written with their rankings in terms of wealth sizes. In the centre the American ships are illustrated in detail. There are five sailing ships painted in red and three steam ships. These eight ships entered the bay on 6 February 1854. Thus this map most likely depicts the scene around that time. A caption on the left reads: 'The United States of America founded by Washington 77 years ago sent Matthew Perry with the President's letter in 1853; Perry revisited Edo in 1854.' . unknown
rif. 222587Paris, Lerouge, Petit, 1814 in-8, 86-[4] pp., broché, couv. papier rose de l'époque.
1907rif. 27497London: Printed by Order of the Trustees of the British Museum. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1907. First Edition. Hardcover. Ex-library General Assembly Library New Zealand. Gilt library stamps on spine and front board. Fading to spine. Small 8mm tear to cloth at lower end of front joint. A little bruising with 18mm crease lines to lower outer corners of boards. Label on front endpaper "Presented by The Trustees of The British Museum". Overall a very good copy that although ex-library shows little sign of use and does not appear to have been a circulating copy. ; Volume Two only. xiv 362 each section individually paginated 1 1 blank pages 74 plate leaves 19 colour of which one of the Cephalodiscus plates only has small areas of red colouring 1 folding colour map in pocket at rear. In-text figures. Original red buckram cloth spine and burgundy cloth boards. Gilt lettering on spine. Page dimensions: 306 x 231mm. A volume of zoological reports from the Discovery Expedition 1901-1904 which was led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott 1868-1912. Various contributors. "The chief part of the present volume is Dr. Wilson's beautifully illustrated report on the Birds and Mammals giving his personal experiences during the Expedition as well as the results of subsequent study of the collections. This expedition was the first to discover a nesting colony of the Emperor Penguin. All the other collections of vertebrates made during the Expedition are here reported on with the exception of the embros of seals and the pelagic fishes which will be dealt with later. The investigation into the development of the feathers of the penguin raises several points of great morphological significance. The collection of fishes is small but interesting." - from the Preface to Volume II by F. Jeffrey Bell. The section on Mammals by Edward A. Wilson includes 3 colour and 2 black-and-white plates by Wilson. The section on Birds by Wilson and Pycraft includes 13 colour plates by Wilson. References: Rosove 288-2.A1 has "73 plate leaves" but the number of plate leaves given for each section add to 74 plate leaves which is correct; Renard 1129 - "The coloured plates by Wilson are particularly fine." . Printed by Order of the Trustees of the British Museum hardcover
1908rif. 27532London: Printed by Order of the Trustees of the British Museum. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1908. First Edition. Hardcover. Ex-library General Assembly Library New Zealand. Gilt library stamps on spine and front board. Fading to spine. Label on front endpaper "Presented by The Trustees of The British Museum". Overall a very good copy that although ex-library shows little sign of use and does not appear to have been a circulating copy. ; Volume Four only. 2 blank iv 2 preliminary pages 13 1 blank; 5 1 blank; 41 1; 46; 16; 9 1 blank; 26; 6; 12; 56; 50 pages each section paginated individually 59 plate leaves 21 colour and another 9 with a single beige colour background tint. The fourth section is listed in the Contents as having 44 pages but it actually has 46 pages. Original red buckram cloth spine and burgundy cloth boards. Gilt lettering on spine. Page dimensions: 303 x 230mm. A volume of zoological reports from the Discovery Expedition 1901-1904 which was led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott 1868-1912. Various contributors. 20 of the colour plates are of sponges Porifera of which 9 of Tetraxonida and 11 are of Calcarea calcareous sponges. 1 colour plate of Myzostomidae marine worm. References: Rosove 288-4.A1 Rosove states 58 instead of 59 plates and 18 plate leaves for the section on Tetraxonida but this should be 19 as there are 19 plates numbered VIII through XXVI in this section. The Contents in the book also list 19 plates in this section.; Renard 1129 . Printed by Order of the Trustees of the British Museum hardcover
rif. 102116London H.M.S.O. 1877. . First edition; folio 33.5 x 21.5 cm; 16 folding maps a few small splits to folds 16 plates further illustrations in the text; contemporary blue half roan marbled boards lightly faded neat restoration to extremities a very good copy; viii 484 pp. One of the most valuable sources for the history of exploration in northern Canada. The Nares expedition so called after its commander George Nares 1831-1915 sailed in two ships HMS Alert and HMS Discovery in late May of 1875 in quest of the North Pole. The ships reached Lady Franklin Bay on North Ellesmere Island and the Alert went on to reach the extreme north of the island the highest latitude that had yet been reached by a ship. In April 1876 three separate sledge parties set out but the men showed serious signs of scurvy and several members died. Nares was forced to abandon the expedition and returned to England in September that year. Despite the difficulties faced by the expedition it did produce important scientific results including a study of Inuit dog disease and a volume of physical observations. The Nares expedition is one of the best documented Arctic expeditions with eight Parliamentary Blue Books alone devoted to it between 1875 and 1878. Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson wrote 'The Arctic Blue Books are beyond comparison the most important tool of knowledge in this field.' London H.M.S.O., 1877. hardcover
1904rif. 760631904 Paris, Perrin, 1904, in 8° broché, 430 pages ; non coupé ; portrait en frontispice et carte dépliante.
1960rif. 15833Paris: Collection de la Societe de Geographie 1960. Very good overall. An image taken by Frank Hurley on the Mawson 1911-14 Australian Antarctic Expedition. One might draw the conclusion that the original image was in the collection of the French geographical society and is reprinted here in a very large format in blue ink the photo of seals and penguins lying on the pack ice. We once thought that it might have been from one of the French expeditions to the Antarctic perhaps Charcot's 4th Antarctic expedition. However Mark Pharaoh manager of the Mawson Centre at the South Australian Museum has confirmed that it is a Hurley image taken on Mawson's 1911-14 expedition. The title "La Banquise" below the image; "Cliche de la Collection de la Societe Geographie / Collection Jean-Pierre Geographie Pittoresque" lower left; lower right "Fernand Nathan Editeur Paris - Tous Droits Reserves". and with one very small thumb tack puncture below the title. 30 1/2 x 20 1/2" Collection de la Societe de Geographie unknown
rif. 222773S.l., s.d. (1800) petit in-8, [4] ff. n. ch., couverts d'une écriture fine, soignée et lisible (environ 20 lignes par page), 13 ff. vierges, en feuilles, reliées par un ruban jaune à noeuds.
rif. 239889S.l., s.d. (janvier 1800) in-folio, [10] ff. n. ch., couverts de plusieurs écritures très lisibles, en feuilles.
1789rif. 48038Puerto Deseado Argentina. ca. 1789. Two Extraordinary Native American Portraits from the Malaspina Expedition A superb pair of highly finished red chalk portraits of two Patagonians made at Puerto Deseado in southern Argentina during the Malaspina expedition by one of the expedition's artists. The Malaspina Expedition was Spain's single effort at a voyage of exploration and discovery comparable to the great English and French voyages of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. More specifically it was designed to gain geographical knowledge and underpin Spain's territorial claims to the Northwest coast of America. It also had ambitious plans to publish its findings in the tradition of the other great European voyages. The Malaspina voyage is famous for the quality of the scientific material collected not least the anthropological drawings of peoples drawn at their many ports of call accurate and lifelike depictions very much in the tradition of the artists who accompanied James Cook William Hodges and John Webber. The expedition circumnavigated the globe leaving Cadiz on July 30 1789 visiting the coast of Patagonia in November working on the west coast of the Americas in 1790 and 1791 and ultimately returned to Spain in 1794 after a five-year voyage. Although unsigned both portraits offered here have been firmly attributed to voyage artist José de Pozo Ximénez 1757-1821 who made a series of drawings in Patagonia including one sketch in which he and his fellow artist Pineda are depicted in the act of drawing some of the local people. Pozo Ximénez was a native of Seville hired as an expedition painter by the Spanish government in June 1789. At the time of his recruitment he was described as "an excellent subject and perspective painter having a very good education with a wealth of geometry and is very robust for the age of 32" quoted in Puig-Samper p.18. A specialist in perspective and portraits his ethnological work is considered his greatest contribution to the results of the voyage but although Malaspina admired his "accuracy and speed" Journal of the Voyage p.140 the commander became increasingly infuriated with what he saw as the artist's laziness and indifference and forced him to leave the expedition in Callao in May 1790. Although ordered back to Spain Pozo in fact never left Peru founding a school of painting in Lima. The bulk of his Malaspina voyage originals are in the Museo Naval Madrid where much of the original material from the expedition resides. The portraits depict a man and woman drawn during a well-recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Patagonians in December 1789. It can be established that the man is a chief called "Junchar"; and the young woman is apparently the young woman called "Jujana" or "Cátama" who is described in detail in Malaspina's journal as having captivated the Spanish officers. The expedition had reached Puerto Deseado in late 1789 and Malaspina personally describes their interaction with a local tribe of some forty people on three separate occasions pp.85-90. Pozo joined Malaspina on the second of these visits drawing these portraits and a larger sketch of the encounter between the Spanish officers and a large group of Patagonians a sketch which seems to have an each-way bet on whether they were in fact giants: Pozo's Patagonians are strapping but not absurdly tall Serrano plate 36. Indeed it is plausible that the two present portraits are of people who are also in that larger scene: Junchar may be the man with a cloak over one shoulder talking to one of the Spanish men while the young woman could conceivably be the person standing at the far right of the Patagonians with dark eyes and parted hair. What is clear is that both subjects were described in detail by Malaspina personally. Of Junchar he notes: "In general they were all including the women and children very large and solidly built. Their height was not in proportion to their build but they were tall: the cacique Junchar who was carefully measured by Don Antonio Pineda and found to be six Burgos feet and ten inches in height and almost twenty-three inches broad from shoulder to shoulder" p.87. No doubt Junchar was singled out by Pozo because his large stature spoke to the ancient misconception of Patagonians as giants a myth which had gripped the European imagination since the time of Magellan. In a much longer passage Malaspina also describes how they singled out one particular woman to have her portrait taken: a "Patagonian girl aged about fourteen later referred to as Jujana by Malaspina whose good looks great charm and exceptional loquacity had made us choose to portray her rather than the other women was drawn to our attention even more when the time came for them to go ashore" as she struggled to modestly use her poncho to carry away some biscuits and vegetables that had been given to her as a gift p.89. In the catalogue raisonné of the art of the Malaspina voyage Carmen Sotos Serrano located two preliminary gridded sketches of these portraits "Patagon" and "contorno de la Patagone" respectively see cat. 39 and 40. Pozo also did a full-length study of Junchar and two other studies of a second woman with child cat. 41 and 42. All of these sketches are in the Museo Naval in Madrid which collection also includes two later oil paintings of Junchar and the young woman now called "Cátama." The oils were acquired by the museum in 1932. The drawings presently offered were originally in an album or portfolio entitled "Spanish Drawings" which had been acquired by Elizabeth Lady Holland when travelling extensively in Spain between 1802 and 1805. The Whatman paper into which they have been window-mounted for the album is watermarked 1801 confirming this approximate date of acquisition and their having been mounted in an album. Many of the other drawings in the collection were topographical works by another Malaspina voyage artist Fernando Brambila. When the present drawings were sold in the large sale of drawings from Holland House in 1979 they were attributed to Brambila with the rather telling comment that "no comparable drawings by the artist are recorded." However a comparison with the works illustrated by Serrano and a reading of the journals make it clear that Pozo Ximénez is the artist. Because Malaspina quickly fell into official disfavor and with the disruptions of the Napoleonic Wars the extensive planned publications of the expeditions never came to be. Virtually all of the archives of the voyage are now to be found in the Museo Naval in Madrid. These drawings acquired only a few years after the return of the voyage by Lady Holland are thus among the very few original works of the voyage to ever appear in the market. An extraordinary opportunity to acquire two significant portraits of Native Americans from one of the greatest voyages of the Second Age of Exploration. Two red chalk drawings: the young woman on a sheet 228 x 190 mm. paper watermarked with a combined "P" and smaller "L"; the man "Junchar" on a sheet 228 x 195 mm. Both drawings window-mounted probably about 1801 into a larger sheet of Whatman paper with ink borders added. Fine. HOWGEGO I M26. Carmen Sotos Serrano Los Pintores de la Expedicion de Alejandro Malaspina Madrid 1982 cat. 39-42. Miguel Ãngel Puig-Samper "Illustrators of the New World: The Image in the Spanish Scientific Expeditions of the Enlightenment" in Culture and History Digital Journal Vol. 1 no. 2 December 2012 pp.1-28. Andrew David et al. eds. The Malaspina Expedition 1789-1794 Journal of the Voyage by Alejandro Malaspina Vol. 1 Cadiz to Panama London: The Hakluyt Society 2001. unknown books
1789rif. 48038Puerto Deseado Argentina. ca. 1789. Two Extraordinary Native American Portraits from the Malaspina Expedition A superb pair of highly finished red chalk portraits of two Patagonians made at Puerto Deseado in southern Argentina during the Malaspina expedition by one of the expedition's artists. The Malaspina Expedition was Spain's single effort at a voyage of exploration and discovery comparable to the great English and French voyages of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. More specifically it was designed to gain geographical knowledge and underpin Spain's territorial claims to the Northwest coast of America. It also had ambitious plans to publish its findings in the tradition of the other great European voyages. The Malaspina voyage is famous for the quality of the scientific material collected not least the anthropological drawings of peoples drawn at their many ports of call accurate and lifelike depictions very much in the tradition of the artists who accompanied James Cook William Hodges and John Webber. The expedition circumnavigated the globe leaving Cadiz on July 30 1789 visiting the coast of Patagonia in November working on the west coast of the Americas in 1790 and 1791 and ultimately returned to Spain in 1794 after a five-year voyage. Although unsigned both portraits offered here have been firmly attributed to voyage artist José de Pozo Ximénez 1757-1821 who made a series of drawings in Patagonia including one sketch in which he and his fellow artist Pineda are depicted in the act of drawing some of the local people. Pozo Ximénez was a native of Seville hired as an expedition painter by the Spanish government in June 1789. At the time of his recruitment he was described as "an excellent subject and perspective painter having a very good education with a wealth of geometry and is very robust for the age of 32" quoted in Puig-Samper p.18. A specialist in perspective and portraits his ethnological work is considered his greatest contribution to the results of the voyage but although Malaspina admired his "accuracy and speed" Journal of the Voyage p.140 the commander became increasingly infuriated with what he saw as the artist's laziness and indifference and forced him to leave the expedition in Callao in May 1790. Although ordered back to Spain Pozo in fact never left Peru founding a school of painting in Lima. The bulk of his Malaspina voyage originals are in the Museo Naval Madrid where much of the original material from the expedition resides. The portraits depict a man and woman drawn during a well-recorded encounter between the Spanish and the Patagonians in December 1789. It can be established that the man is a chief called "Junchar"; and the young woman is apparently the young woman called "Jujana" or "Cátama" who is described in detail in Malaspina's journal as having captivated the Spanish officers. The expedition had reached Puerto Deseado in late 1789 and Malaspina personally describes their interaction with a local tribe of some forty people on three separate occasions pp.85-90. Pozo joined Malaspina on the second of these visits drawing these portraits and a larger sketch of the encounter between the Spanish officers and a large group of Patagonians a sketch which seems to have an each-way bet on whether they were in fact giants: Pozo's Patagonians are strapping but not absurdly tall Serrano plate 36. Indeed it is plausible that the two present portraits are of people who are also in that larger scene: Junchar may be the man with a cloak over one shoulder talking to one of the Spanish men while the young woman could conceivably be the person standing at the far right of the Patagonians with dark eyes and parted hair. What is clear is that both subjects were described in detail by Malaspina personally. Of Junchar he notes: "In general they were all including the women and children very large and solidly built. Their height was not in proportion to their build but they were tall: the cacique Junchar who was carefully measured by Don Antonio Pineda and found to be six Burgos feet and ten inches in height and almost twenty-three inches broad from shoulder to shoulder" p.87. No doubt Junchar was singled out by Pozo because his large stature spoke to the ancient misconception of Patagonians as giants a myth which had gripped the European imagination since the time of Magellan. In a much longer passage Malaspina also describes how they singled out one particular woman to have her portrait taken: a "Patagonian girl aged about fourteen later referred to as Jujana by Malaspina whose good looks great charm and exceptional loquacity had made us choose to portray her rather than the other women was drawn to our attention even more when the time came for them to go ashore" as she struggled to modestly use her poncho to carry away some biscuits and vegetables that had been given to her as a gift p.89. In the catalogue raisonné of the art of the Malaspina voyage Carmen Sotos Serrano located two preliminary gridded sketches of these portraits "Patagon" and "contorno de la Patagone" respectively see cat. 39 and 40. Pozo also did a full-length study of Junchar and two other studies of a second woman with child cat. 41 and 42. All of these sketches are in the Museo Naval in Madrid which collection also includes two later oil paintings of Junchar and the young woman now called "Cátama." The oils were acquired by the museum in 1932. The drawings presently offered were originally in an album or portfolio entitled "Spanish Drawings" which had been acquired by Elizabeth Lady Holland when travelling extensively in Spain between 1802 and 1805. The Whatman paper into which they have been window-mounted for the album is watermarked 1801 confirming this approximate date of acquisition and their having been mounted in an album. Many of the other drawings in the collection were topographical works by another Malaspina voyage artist Fernando Brambila. When the present drawings were sold in the large sale of drawings from Holland House in 1979 they were attributed to Brambila with the rather telling comment that "no comparable drawings by the artist are recorded." However a comparison with the works illustrated by Serrano and a reading of the journals make it clear that Pozo Ximénez is the artist. Because Malaspina quickly fell into official disfavor and with the disruptions of the Napoleonic Wars the extensive planned publications of the expeditions never came to be. Virtually all of the archives of the voyage are now to be found in the Museo Naval in Madrid. These drawings acquired only a few years after the return of the voyage by Lady Holland are thus among the very few original works of the voyage to ever appear in the market. An extraordinary opportunity to acquire two significant portraits of Native Americans from one of the greatest voyages of the Second Age of Exploration. Two red chalk drawings: the young woman on a sheet 228 x 190 mm. paper watermarked with a combined "P" and smaller "L"; the man "Junchar" on a sheet 228 x 195 mm. Both drawings window-mounted probably about 1801 into a larger sheet of Whatman paper with ink borders added. Fine. HOWGEGO I M26. Carmen Sotos Serrano Los Pintores de la Expedicion de Alejandro Malaspina Madrid 1982 cat. 39-42. Miguel Ãngel Puig-Samper "Illustrators of the New World: The Image in the Spanish Scientific Expeditions of the Enlightenment" in Culture and History Digital Journal Vol. 1 no. 2 December 2012 pp.1-28. Andrew David et al. eds. The Malaspina Expedition 1789-1794 Journal of the Voyage by Alejandro Malaspina Vol. 1 Cadiz to Panama London: The Hakluyt Society 2001. unknown