Catalog Archive
Auction 159, Lot 638

"Grundriss der Stadt und des Hafen Macao", Bellin, Jacques Nicolas

Subject: Macao, China

Period: 1750 (circa)

Publication: Allgemeine Historie der Reisen zur Wasser und zu Lande…

Color: Black & White

Size:
6.6 x 8.3 inches
16.8 x 21.1 cm
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This is the German edition of this copper engraved plan of the city and harbor of Macao, an important Portuguese trading post and center of activity for Catholic missionaries. The city is shown as several blocks of buildings with the fort adjacent and located at the top of a hill. It also locates the cannon battery labeled St. Jacob und St. Philipp, the Chinese village, a Pagoda, the Jesuit monastery on Green Island (I. Verte), and the military battery across the harbor. Macao was earlier an island connected to the mainland by a narrow sand bar that eventually filled in, converting Macao to a peninsula as shown here. Macao was administered by Portugal for 442 years until 1999 and today enjoys a semi-autonomous relationship with China, similar to Hong Kong.

References:

Condition: A

A crisp impression on a watermarked sheet with one wormhole in the bottom left corner of the border.

Estimate: $120 - $150

Sold for: $80

Closed on 9/14/2016

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