Nov 09, 2023 - Sale 2652

Sale 2652 - Lot 5

Price Realized: $ 4,750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000

RHYS WILLIAMS (1894-1976)

QANTAS / A NEW AIR MAP FROM THE AUSTRALIAN VIEWPOINT. Circa 1939.


40x26 inches, 101 1/2x66 cm. Qantas Empire Airways, Ltd.
Condition A: small repaired tears at bottom edge.

Primarily known as a landscape painter, Williams was also an illustrator, engraver and commercial artist. He designed a small handful of posters, most notably for Qantas and the P & O shipping line. W.H. Maze, who designed this Australia-centric version of an orange peel projection globe, spent almost 40 years on the staff of the University of Sydney, leading their Geography Department from 1935 to 1947. The "Great Circle Course" is a cartographer's concept whereby the shortest distance between two locations can be charted following circles around the perimeter of the earth. Qantas acquired their first three Short Empire C Class Flying boats in 1938.