[TIMOR] Timor. Vue de la Rade, de la Ville et du Fort de Coupang. (Kupang)

Rare engraved panorama by the French artist, Charles Lesueur of Coupang.

Lesueur was the official artist on the Nicholas Baudin expedition of the ships, Naturaliste and Casuarina.

Nicholas Baudin was instructed to complete a detailed cartographic survey of the Australian coast and was placed in command of two ships, the Geographe and the Naturaliste. Some twenty-four scientists accompanied the voyage, including the naturalists Francois Peron and Charles Alexandre Lesueur and the cartographer-surveyor Louis Freycinet. The ships first arrived in Kupang, Timor in 1801 and then ventured south to complete the survey of Australia’s southern coast where Baudin crossed paths with Matthew Flinders, who was undertaking his own survey of the coast. After making their way to Sydney, the Naturaliste returned to France and Baudin acquired a new ship, the Casuarina, of which Freycinet was made commander. Baudin then returned to Timor, arriving there in 1803. The expedition resulted in the first complete map of the Australian coast and several of the most detailed and fine engravings of Australian wildlife and landscapes. Exquisite view of the harbour and town of Kupang in Timor, which depicts the French ships Geographe and the Naturaliste at anchor, by Charles Alexandre Lesueur. Kupang was an important trading port and was used as a resupply point for many other important voyages in the region, including those of Flinders and Freycinet’s Uranie voyage. Lesueur was employed to illustrate the account of Baudin’s voyage. Voyage de Decouvertes aux Terres Australes is known for his exquisitely detailed artwork of wildlife and landscapes.