Laponia (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, pl. 312)

Laponia (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, pl. 312)

William Hogarth

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Possibly by Hogarth, this print was made to illustrate a travel book by the French author Aubry de La Mottraye. Laponia, or Lapland, is celebrated by a obelisk atop a plinth, the former decorated with four coins or medals representing the Swedish monarchs Gustav Adolf, Christina, Karl Gustav and Karl XI. Next to the obelisk stand two Laplanders with dead stags and various utensils, including a canoe, skis and bow and arrow. Above is the North star and constellations.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Laponia (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, pl. 312)Laponia (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, pl. 312)Laponia (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, pl. 312)Laponia (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, pl. 312)Laponia (Aubry de La Mottraye's "Travels throughout Europe, Asia and into Part of Africa...," London, 1724, pl. 312)

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.