Prints

A view of Singapore with Fort Canning on the Hill in the distance as painted by Francois-Edmond Paris in 1830. Foreman translates, "The town is divided into two parts by Singapore River which is deep enough at its mouth to carry large vessels. A great number of these throng the quays which are covered with beautiful houses and enormous shops". An early view of Boat Quay.

Captain Cyrille Pierre Theodore Laplace (1793-1875) circumnavigated the world on the corvette La Favorite from 1829-1832. The ship visited Singapore, Manila, Macau and Canton. La Favorite's first port of call was Singapore which it visited between 17 and 25 August 1830. Paris was among the officers and artists on board who drew some fine views of these places. These were later made into aquatints and published in Paris in 1833.

This aquatint was done by Sigismond Himely in 1833 after a painting by Francois-Edmond Paris.

The Frenchman, Francois -Edmund Paris (1806-1903), sailed on three circumnavigations of the world in the 1820s and 1830s. He was on three different ships, L' Astrolabe, La Favorite and L'Artemise. He produced superb drawings of ships and boats of different countries of the world. Eventually 132 lithographs were produced to illustrate his "Essai sur la Construction Navale des Peuples Extra-Europeens ou Collection des Navires et Pirogues", which was published in Paris by Arthus Bertrand in 1841. Paris was later made an Admiral and in 1871 he became the curator of the Naval Museum at the Louvre.

Reference

Wong Hong Suen and Roxana Waterson   Singapore 19th Century Prints and Paintings. 2010 Editions Didier Millet and National Museum of Singapore. Page 71.