After Piron
Peches des Sauvages du Cap de Diemen
Piron was the natural history artist on the expedition lead by
Bruni d' Entrecasteaux in search of the French navigator La Peŕouse
who disappeared without trace in 1788. Set the task of
recording the coastal profiles and remarkable landscapes as well as
depictions of the costumes, ceremonies, games and dwellings of the
natives, Piron produced a number of drawings including this image
of a group of indigenous Tasmanians at the water's edge
Peches des Sauvages du Cap de Diemen has few, if any,
references to fishing and the scene it depicts appears to be
somewhat staged. Along with the rest of the expedition papers,
Piron's drawings fell into British hands and were then returned to
the French under a flag of truce in 1796. The drawing was later
engraved by Jacques Louis Copie. Peche des
Sauvages…' was reproduced in Jacques Julian Houten de la
Billardiere's Atlas pour serir a la Relation du voyage a la
Recherche de la Peŕouse, Paris 1800.