Carte Reduite du Golfe de Bengale, depuis L‘Isle de Ceyland jusqu‘au Golfe de Siam avec la partie Septentrionale du Detroit de Malac

Circa 1775

Copper engraving on paper

Print size: 19.25 x 26.25 in (49.1 x 66.4 cm)
Sheet size: 21.25 x 31.25 in (54 x 79.5 cm)

Carte Réduite du Golfe de Bengale— A French Hydrographic Chart of the Bay of Bengal and the Straits of Malacca

This refined French hydrographic chart presents the Bay of Bengal and adjoining sea lanes from Ceylon to the Straits of Malacca, extending across the eastern Indian Ocean to the Gulf of Siam. Produced for Le Neptune Oriental, Jean-Baptiste d’Après de Mannevillette’s monumental nautical atlas, the map reflects the most advanced French maritime knowledge of Asia in the late eighteenth century.

Executed as a copperplate engraving, the chart prioritises navigational precision over decorative display. Dense rhumb-line networks radiate across open waters, while coastlines are meticulously articulated with soundings, shoals, sandbanks, and coastal hazards critical to long-distance navigation. The deltaic complexity of the Ganges-Brahmaputra system, the Arakan coast, the Malay Peninsula, and the approaches to Malacca are rendered with particular care, underscoring the commercial and strategic importance of these waters.

Mannevillette’s work synthesised French, Dutch, and English survey data, offering mariners a practical and comparatively reliable guide through some of the most heavily trafficked and hazardous routes of the global maritime economy. This chart stands as a documentary record of eighteenth-century imperial navigation, reflecting the competitive intelligence-gathering that underpinned European trade and naval power in South and Southeast Asia. Well-preserved examples remain highly sought after for their technical sophistication, historical resonance, and central place in the history of scientific cartography.

NON-EXPORTABLE

This lot is offered at RESERVE

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