Cape Town

This print depicts a view of Table Bay with the Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain in the distance, partially covered in cloud. Three ships and several small boats are in the bay. In the foreground to the left is a meeting between Dutch men, wearing hats and knee-breeches, and indigenous African people. One of the Dutch men points an object at a woman sat on the ground with a baby on her back. A man next to her has a quiver on his back and a bow in his hand. There are several people around, some smaller figures which may be children. It is signed, lower left, by the engraver, ‘C. Decker. fec’.

This print was used as an illustration in Wouter Schouten’s ‘Oost-Indische Voyagie’ (Amsterdam: Jacob Meurs, 1676), p. 7. Wouter Schouten (1638-1704) was a Dutch barber surgeon, who joined the Dutch East India Company or VOC in 1658. The book was an account of his travels.