Harbours & ports
Harbours, ports, docks, quays and lighthouses: Amsterdam on the IJ, the West India Docks, Batavia, Constantinople, Havana and New York, as engravers saw them from the water.
122 pieces
Original Antique Chromolithograh of Srigonjo Bay, the South Coast of Java, 1872
Lighthouse Architecture & Engineering Engravings, Set of 3, c. 1800
Antique Print of the Port and City of Algiers by Van Keulen, circa 1720
Large Lighthouse Rescue Schoolplate, Josef Klemm Chromolithograph, c.1900
Constantinople Harbor Vue d’Optique by Jacques Chéreau, c.1760
Antique Print of the Harbour of the IJ 'Amsterdam' by Stemler '1871'
Old Alexandria Harbor, Antique Egypt Engraving by Norden & Tuscher, 1755
Boston Harbor View from Castle William, Hand-Colored Aquatint by Fumagalli, 1827
Dejima (Desima) Dutch Trading Post, Nagasaki Japan, VOC Engraving, 1736
Old Print of VOC Ships in the Sea Near Batavia (Jakarta, Indonesia), 1779
Small Map of Bantam with Dutch Ships and an Engraving of Portugese, 1614
Rare Early View of the Harbour of Peking or Beijing, Capital of China
Rare Harbour Views of Colonial Singapore, 1907
Optical View of the Port of Boeotia Near the Island of Evvia, Greece
Antique Print of the Sailing Tour on the IJ River , Amsterdam, 1768
Rare Engraving of the Coast of Dabhol or Dabul, Ratnagiri, Maharashtra in India
View of the Harbor of Cannes, Engraving by Dubois after Courvoisier, 1784
Hand-Colored Vue d’Optique of the Harbour of Havana, Cuba, circa 1770
Antique Print of the Coast of Dabhol 'India', 1726
Antique Satirical Print showing Mermaids about the Port of Enkhuizen, circa 1720
Antique Print of Ships Near Onrust Island Near Jakarta, Indonesia, 1779
Antique Print of the North Coast of Gibraltar by F. Appel 'c.1890'
Spectacular 1770 Bird's-Eye View of Dunkirk Harbor by Basset, with 66 Landmarks
The Port of Marseille, 18th Century Hand-Colored Engraving by Daumont, Paris
1779 View of Onrust Island Near Batavia with VOC Shipyard Activity
Old Engraving the City and Harbour of Pathmos, Patmos or Patimo in Greece, 1725
Antique Print of the Harbour Sunda Kelapa of Batavia in the Dutch Indies, 1826
Rare Engraving of Dutch and Danish Forts on the West African Gold Coast, 1744
Old Print of Anjer or Anyer, Coastal Town in Banten, West Java, Indonesia, 1844
Maritime Majesty: The 17th-Century Skyline of Kalmar in Sweden, 1693
Antique Print of the Port of Nice in France, c.1865
1778 View of the Dutch Fortifications and Port of Batavia, Now Jakarta
Dutch Fleet and Fortified Port City of Bantam, from History of Amsterdam, 1611
Antique Dutch East Indies Forts Engraving, VOC Batavia, Ambon & Banda, c.1719
Antique Print of the Coast of Harlingen, Harbour in Friesland, circa 1780
Optical View of New York City Manhattan Harbor Hand-Colored Augsburg, ca.1775
Antique St Eustatius Caribbean View, Ships Harbor, Tournefort 1717
Rotterdam from the Ferry, Stanfield Sketches, Boys after Stanfield, 1833
Antique Print with a View of Amsterdam from the IJ Dock by H. Schouten
Antique Print of the Frisian Harbour City of Stavoren in the Netherlands, 1659
Antique Print of the Coromandel Coast in India, 1726
Antique Print of the City and Port of Ptolemais in Phoenicia by A. Calmet, 1725
Copperplate Engraving Showing Forts on the West African Gold Coast, Ghana, 1744
Dieppe, Antique Hand-Coloured French Coastal Town Engraving (1666)
Old Print of Ships near Anyer & Krakatoa in the Sunda Straits, Indonesia, 1844
Antique Print of the Harbour of Sebastopol 'Crimean War' by W. Simpson, 1855
Antique Print of Docks at Sebastopol 'Crimean War' by W. Simpson, 1855
Antique Print of Lyttelton Harbour 'New Zealand' by Blatchley, circa 1877
About harbours & ports
Harbour views were the postcards of the age of sail: engraved prospects of a port seen from the water, its quays and warehouses, its forts and its forest of masts. They were made for travel books, town histories and illustrated papers, and for optical viewers whose reversed lettering is a sign of a vue d'optique.
The collection runs from Amsterdam on the IJ and the docks of London to Batavia, Constantinople, Havana, New York and the trading forts of the West African coast, with lighthouses, shipyards and naval arsenals among them.
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Questions about harbours & ports
What is a vue d'optique?
A hand-coloured view printed in the 1700s for an optical viewing box (a zograscope), which used a lens and mirror to give the picture depth. Because of the mirror, the title is often printed in reverse at the top.
Which harbours are in the collection?
Among others Amsterdam, London, Batavia (Jakarta), Constantinople, Havana, New York, Boston, Quebec, New Orleans, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Marseille and the forts of the Gold Coast.