Sauvage des Îles de L'Amirauté

(Paris.). (circa1800).. Engraving on watermarked laid paper, 45 x 30 cm edges spotted, four spots affecting the background of the image, but a very good dark impression. Beautifully composed image of a man of the Admiralty Islands, (now often referred to as Manus after the largest island), Papua New Guinea, prepared for the Atlas to Labillardiere's account of the "Voyage a la recherche de la Perouse". The man holds a lime bottle and a paddle and has a fish tooth bound to his left arm. A shell hides his penis. He is tattooed and has earrings and a nose ring.

The beleaguered voyage searched in vain for La Perouse and the expedition's leader Rear-Admiral Bruny d'Entrecasteaux died of scurvy. However, the voyage numbered gifted scientists and naturalists (Labillardiere), as well as Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré, now regarded as the father of modern French hydrography. As Ferguson notes, "The expedition made several important contributions to geographical knowledge, and the investigations of the naturalists into productions of countries visited were of special value". .