Batavia Town Hall Across Its Square, Now the Jakarta Museum, circa 1755

An original hand-colored antique engraving of the town hall of Batavia, seen across the open square it faced, the long pedimented facade and its ranks of shuttered windows filling the upper half of the sheet. In front of it the square is busy in a low-key way: townspeople in European coats and in Javanese dress stand in small groups or walk across the paving, a cart has been drawn up at one side, and a dog trots through the foreground. The caption is given in both French and Dutch, "VUE DE LA MAISON DE VILLE a BATAVIA." and "GEZIGT van 't STADHUYS te BATAVIA." Jacobus van der Schley directed the engraving. The hand coloring is light, with warm stone tones in the building and a clear sky behind it.

An original copper engraving with hand coloring from the Dutch edition of Abbe Prevost's voyage collection, "Historische Beschryving der Reizen", published at The Hague by Pieter de Hondt about 1750 to 1760, the plates engraved under the direction of Jacobus van der Schley, who signs the sheet "J. V. Schley, direx." Prevost's compilation gathered the narratives of European voyages into a long series of volumes, and the Dutch issue carried finely engraved views and maps of the East Indies, of which the Batavia subjects are the most sought after.

The building survives: it stands on Fatahillah Square in old Jakarta and houses the Jakarta History Museum, so a buyer can set this engraving against the view from the same spot today, which very few colonial prints allow. It was the seat of the city's government and its court, and the square in front of it was the formal center of Dutch Asia for two hundred years. The sheet is small enough to work in a group and strong enough to stand alone over a desk; for anyone with a connection to Jakarta it is among the most satisfying single images of the old city.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.