Ode to Oceanography: An Antique Nautical Chart of South Asia

Today’s nautical chart is an ancient 278-year-old map of South Asia, & the Indo-Pacific. Until the early 1500s, maps & information about South Asia were not widely available across Europe. As the ability to mass-produce maps grew across Europe, information from all corners of the world began to reach the continent.

The map is moderately sized at 34.5 inches wide, & 20.5 inches long. Uncharacteristically for the time, the chart is brightly coloured with greens, reds, yellows, & teals used to indicate different regions. In addition to being brightly coloured, an elaborate cartouche with designs of cannons, drums, spears, swords, anchors, & flags can be seen in the lower left corner.

In today’s article, we are going to examine this antique map, discuss it, & perform an analysis of it. With that being said, let’s delve into the tropical waters of South Asia!

The Chart Itself

A magnificent nautical chart of South Asia produced by Homann Heirs in 1748. Credit to raremaps.com.

This chart is focused on the Indo-Pacific, & features modern-day Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, South China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, & the Philippines. Sri Lanka is referred to as “Ceilan”, as it was referred to as Ceylon until 1972. The entire chart is in German, as it was produced in Nuremberg, Germany. Between the 15th, & 18th centuries, Nuremberg was one of the scientific, & cartographic capitals of the world, with many charts produced in the city being used in other areas of Europe.

The chart showcases hundreds, possibly even thousands of place names all over South Asia. From India, to Timor Leste, hundreds of coastal & inland cities are featured on the map. Additionally, the Tropic of Cancer is featured, labelled “Tropicus Cancri”.

Apart from a few small brown spots around the sides, the chart is in magnificent condition for the time.

An Analysis Of The Chart

This chart was manufactured in 1748 in Nuremberg, Germany, by Homann Heirs. Homann Heirs was a cartographic house that operated from 1702 to 1848 in Germany. It was founded by Johann Baptist Homann in 1702, before being passed along to his son Johann Christoph upon his death in 1724. Christoph suffered an untimely death in 1730 at the age of 27, & the firm was inherited by Johann Michael Franz, & Johann Georg Ebersberger. This led to the name of the house being changed from “Homann Erben”, to “Homann Heirs”. It was known by a variety of names including but not limited to “Homanniani Heredes”, “Heritiers de Homann”, “Lat Homannianos Herod”, & “Homannschen Erben”. These names were primarily used for commercial publication in foreign countries. The firm operated until the death of its final owner, Christoph Franz Fembo in 1848.

This chart was titled “Carte Des Indes Orientales dessinee suivant les Observations les plus recentes dont le principal est tiree des Cartes hydrographiques de Mr. D'Apres de Mannevillette”, which roughly translates to “Map of the East Indies drawn up according to the most recent observations, the main source of which is Mr. D'Apres de Mannevillette's hydrographic charts.”

The chart was most likely manufactured for civilian purposes, rather than for military use.

Considering the age of the map, it was most likely manufactured using the engraving method. In this technique, there are 4 roles, the mapmaker, the engraver, the printer, & the colourist.

The first step in this process is that the mapmaker will go out & make a hand-drawn map of the area where the map will encompass. Effectively, the mapmaker is the informant who makes the first copy.

After this, the engraver will create a design of the map in reverse on a metal, usually copper, surface. Usually, there would only be 1-2 plates used, however, it differs depending on the size of the map.

After the copper plate is made, the printer will heat the copper panel, & then proceed to lather it with ink. They will then wipe the copper panel down to the point where the ink is only on the grooves of the panel.

Thereafter, the printer will press damp paper onto the ink, & hang it up to dry. To conclude, the colourist will touch up the map & decorate it by adding in details, such as shorelines, docks, piers, rocks, & shoals. The result should be a detailed chart with colour, & depth, useful to any sailor of the era traversing the dangerous ocean.

Directories / Credits

All credit for this map analyzed today goes to Rare Maps, a California rare & antique maps store. To purchase this chart, antique atlases, or other cartographic objects, please visit www.raremaps.com. To be clear, this is not an advertisement for Rare Maps, as we do not have a partnership with them.

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