Prints

One of the two views of Singapore painted by Francois-Edmund Paris in 1830. Looking up the river from South Boat Quay; in the distance is Jackson's Wooden Bridge which was built in 1823.

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.

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 72.