Perth Sculptures: Willem de Vlamingh and Swan

Two more sculptures in Perth worth noting are the Willem de Vlamingh and the Swan that is next to it, both created by Joan Walsh-Smith and Charles Smith.

Continuing with the tour of sculptures in Perth, I found them interesting because I do love the black swans in Perth, and also, the fact that Willem de Vlamingh was Dutch.

Willem de Vlamingh

Unveiled by HRH Prince of Orange to commemorate the 300th anniversary of de Vlamingh’s exploration and naming of the Swan River in 1697.

• On 29 December 1696, he landed on Rottnest Island. He saw a giant jarrah, numerous quokkas (a native marsupial), and thinking they were large rats he named the island “rats’ nest” (Rattennest in Dutch) because of them. He afterwards wrote of it in his journal: “I had great pleasure in admiring this island, which is very attractive, and where it seems to me that nature has denied nothing to make it pleasurable beyond all islands I have ever seen, being very well provided for man’s well-being, with timber, stone, and lime for building him houses, only lacking ploughmen to fill these fine plains. There is plentiful salt, and the coast is full of fish. Birds make themselves heard with pleasant song in these scented groves. So I believe that of the many people who seek to make themselves happy, there are many who would scorn the fortunes of our country for the choice of this one here, which would seem a paradise on earth”.
• On 10 January 1697, he ventured up the Swan River. He and his crew are believed to have been the first Europeans to do so. The Swan River (Zwaanenrivier in Dutch) was named after the large numbers of black swans that they observed there.

Black Swan

Now I get the closeness of the two sculptures.