Explore: Jan van Ryne

(c.1712 - c.1760)

Jan van Ryne was a Dutch artist, who moved to London in 1750 and worked as a draughtsman and engraver in the city until his death ten years later. In 1754, Robert Sayer published six ‘Views of Early Settlements’, which were both drawn and engraved by van Ryne. The titles were: ‘Fort St. George on the Coromandel Coast’, ‘Bombay on the Malabar Coast’, ‘Fort William on the Kingdom of Bengal’, ‘The City of Batavia in the Island of Java’, ‘Island of St Helena’ and ‘The Cape of Good Hope’. Van Ryne presumably had no first-hand knowledge of these locations, but worked from the sketches of travellers who had. The prints were later reissued by Laurie and Whittle of 53 Fleet Street, London, in 1794.