Antique Sea Chart of Hudson Bay and Arctic Canada by Van Keulen, circa 1681

1681 · Sea Charts

Antique Sea Chart of Hudson Bay and Arctic Canada by Van Keulen, circa 1681

Name: Antique Sea Chart of Hudson Bay and Arctic Canada by Van Keulen, circa 1681
Brand: Van Keulen
SKU: PCT-58947
Price: 5315 USD
Availability: InStock

$5,315

€4,750 · dollar price at today's exchange rate

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

Date: 1681
Maker: Van Keulen
Kind: Sea Charts
Technique: Engraved
Size: 53 × 60.5 cm (20.9 × 23.8 in)
Condition: Good. Original/contemporary hand coloring. Original folding line. Few vertical creases. General age-related toning. Shows some wear and soiling. Blank verso, please study images carefully.
Period: Colonial America
Places: Canada
Reference: PCT-58947

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

A sea chart of Hudson Bay and Arctic Canada, titled "Pascaarte vande Noorderzee Custen van America," published by Van Keulen in Amsterdam about 1681, in original hand coloring. The map was first drawn in 1680 and is based on Doncker's last chart of Hudson Bay and the Arctic, with nearly identical cartouches.

The chart shows Hudson Bay and its islands in the center, Davis Strait and the coast of Greenland to the right, and Labrador, Newfoundland and the Gulf of St. Lawrence at the lower right, with "Nova Britannia," "Nova Francia" and "New North Wales" lettered on the shore. Compass roses and crossing rhumb lines cover the sea, and small ships sail in the open water. The title cartouche is remarkable: a hunter fully dressed in fur takes aim with bow and arrow at a polar bear and her cubs. A second cartouche for the scale at the lower left shows scenes of trading and figures with animals.

The chart records the Dutch knowledge of the northern coasts of North America in the late seventeenth century, and is a decorative example of Van Keulen's sea charts.

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