A very rare plate from the six-plate series of Hawaiian images executed for the "Album Historique", illustrated by Barthelemy Lauvergne for the French government.
Lauvergne was appointed the official artist for the French Navy, and was also trained as a navigator. The government dispatched him as visual recorder for various expeditions, including a circumnavigational trip of political and scientific discovery in 1836 and '37 under the commandment of Auguste Nicholas Valliant, aboard the ship La Bonite.
In 1841 Bertrand published Valliant's crews findings, including the scientific and geographic observations, in one of three atlases published for historic record, titled "Album Historique". Lauvergne was commissioned to oversee the lithographic production of some 100 travel drawings he executed aboard ship. Among these were six plates of their experiences in Hawaii, including of the grounding of their rowboat at Karakakooa Bay.