Title: Kahwah-Patua (‘White crater’)

Creator: J Tempeltey

Description: Lithograph of a Kawah Putih, a crater lake, on the island of Java, Indonesia. The lake has formed in one of the two craters of Mount Patuha, a volcano in West Java. It is highly acidic and changes colour depending on the concentration of sulphur. Junghuhn may have been the first person to document this lake in the western world.

Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn, a German-Dutch botanist, came to Java as a surgeon in the Dutch colonial army whilst fleeing a ten year prison sentence for murdering a rival in a duel. He settled on the island and lived there for most of the rest of his life, making extensive studies of the land and its people.

This image was published in Junghuhn’s Landschaften-Atlas zu Java, which accompanied his four volume Java: deszelfs gedaante, bekleeding en inwendige struktuur (Java: its shape, vegetation cover and inner construction), (Amsterdam: PN Van Kampen, 1850-1854).

Date: [1850-1854]

Format: Lithograph

Image reference: 02-25a

Recommended print size: Up to 20 x 16 inches (50 x 40cm)