Antique Print of the Exploding of the 'Alphen' in the Harbour of Curacao, 1779

Name: Antique Print of the Exploding of the 'Alphen' in the Harbour of Curacao, 1779
Brand: American Maps and Prints
SKU: BG-11322
Price: 580 USD
Availability: InStock

$580

€520 · dollar price at today's exchange rate

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Shipping to the United States: $51 standard, $73 express, insured and tracked.

Date: 1779
Kind: City Views & Plans
Size: 34.5 × 44 cm (13.6 × 17.3 in)
Condition: Good. Age-related toning. Some creasing of the paper, please study image carefully.
Period: The Early Republic
Places: The Lesser Antilles
Reference: BG-11322

What the condition grades mean

Excellent: Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good: Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good: Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair: Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.

Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.

Guaranteed original. This is an original of the period stated, not a later reproduction or print-on-demand copy. If it is ever shown to be otherwise, we refund you in full.

Shipping to the United States. Sent from our gallery in Langweer, the Netherlands, flat between boards or rolled in a tube, and fully insured. Delivery and import charges.

About this piece

The destruction of the Dutch warship Alphen in the harbor of Curacao, an original copper engraving lettered "Het Springen van 's Landsch Oorlog Schip Alphen, in de Haven van Curacao, gecommandeerd door den Weledelen Gestrengen Heer Kapitein G.W.H. van der Feltz, op den 15 September 1778". It was made by J. Allard after J. Punt.

The scene is dominated by the explosion at its center, where the ship is blown apart in a huge burst of fire and smoke, with spars, timbers and bodies flung into the air. Other ships stand on either side, crowded with figures, and a windmill rises at the right. In the foreground, boats full of survivors struggle among the waves, and men on the shore, with a gun carriage and broken timbers beside them, look on.

Captain van der Feltz died with his crew, and only 28 people survived the loss. The sheet is a dramatic piece of Dutch naval history in the Caribbean, made soon after the event and prepared by Jan Punt, who worked as an engraver, painter and actor.

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