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Description: | Coloured engraving. Emanuel Bowen’s coloured engraving depicts a detailed map of the county of Cambridgeshire. It is decorated with inset scenes of rural activities related to the area. In the lower left corner, a decorative cartouche shows a man eel-fishing; while the image at top right depicts a scene of duck shooting. The lower right cartouche explains that it is:
‘Drawn from Surveys, assisted by the most approved Modern Maps, with [a] Variety of Improvements. Illustrated with HISTORICAL EXTRACTS relative to the Soil, Air, Natural produce, Manufactures, Trade, present state of its principal Towns, and a View of the CITY of ELY, by Eman Bowen Geographer to HIS MAJESTY.’
The earliest maps, principally navigation charts, were made in Europe from the eleventh century. As maritime trade expanded in the Mediterranean and throughout Europe, the production of maps, their technical accuracy and the scientific instruments used to survey land became increasingly developed. Initially, a map’s cartouche contained only the title: however by the late 17th century it had developed into a grander artistic device and a minor art form in itself. Ornamentation and decorative flourishes were borrowed from the work of woodcutters and engravers. | Subjects: | cartouche coat of arms map landscape C18th townscape/cityscape | Temporal: | 1753 | Source: | Government Art Collection | Creator: | Emanuel Bowen | Identifier: | http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?... | Go to resource |
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