Title: Begrafplaas van Skepe (1673 - 1972) - Afrikaans
          Graveyard of Ships - English 
 
Date: c. 1972
Colour poster print of original drawing
 
Approx. size: 65 x 90cm (framed)
59 x 83cm (actual artwork)
 
More of an interesting maritime piece than an actual work of art, this map of all the shipwrecks around the South African coast from 1673 to 1972 gives great insight into why the southern tip of Africa was named "The Cape of Storms" in the golden days of seafaring...the informative key along the edges gives the name of each vessel, with a small symbol denoting its sunken position on the map. Nautically themed vignettes - such as galleons, whales and even a freshly-shipwrecked mariner - are scattered around the map, leavening the subject matter and harking back to the old seafarers' maps with the krakens and giant octopi...and the pirate treasure below.