1950 Claude Dohet / Sabena Airlines Pictorial Map of Africa

A very attractive c. 1950 Claude Dohet art deco map of Africa and Europe advertising Sabena Airlines, the Belgian national carrier. The map features striking gold highlighting of routes in Africa and Europe. It recalls Belgium's cartographic heritage with Renaissance-style cartouche work evocative of Mercator and Ortelius, 18th century ships, and an elaborate compass rose. It is further elaborated by pictorial illustrations of European and Congolese people, and a dramatic illustration of Kano, Nigeria, at its height.

Sabena Airlines and Central Africa

In the middle of the 20th century, Sabena maintained one of the largest air networks in Central Africa (then the Belgian Congo), with regular flights between Brussels, Kano, and Stanleyville, along with other destinations. During this era, Stanleyville (Kisangani) was the darling of the Belgian Congo, where Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart filmed 'The African Queen' (1951). Just ten years later, following Congolese independence, Stanleyville devolved into a battleground and remain so for the next twenty years.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Claude Dohet and published in Brussels, Belgium c. 1950. We note only a handful of surviving examples that have appeared on the private market.