Kaart van Azië 1683 - 1709

This is an engraved map of Asia, made around 1700 by Gilliam van der Gouwen. The matrix of metal from which this print was pulled would have been worked with burins and other tools to create a dense network of fine lines. Consider the sheer labor involved. Not only the skilled hand of the engraver, but the labor of those who traveled and surveyed the landscape, collecting the geographic information that the printmaker then translated into visual form. The character of the engraved line – its capacity for precision, but also its tendency toward abstraction – dictated the map’s appearance. Notice how the topographical features are suggested more than represented, the same is true for the people illustrated in the lower corner. A fascinating contrast arises between the European desire to chart and dominate the world, and the necessarily mediated way that knowledge was acquired, circulated, and consumed. Ultimately, this map is as much an object of craft as it is a claim to scientific accuracy.