1935 Jan Wijga Pictorial Map of the East Indies KNILM Airlines Routes

A striking c. 1935 art deco map of the East India archipelago and parts of Southeast Asia drawn by Dutch commercial artist Jan Wijga for KNILM, or the Royal Netherlands Indies Airways (1928 - 1942). The map covers from Bangkok to Darwin, Australia, and from Sumatra to New Guinea. The former Dutch East Indies, modern day Indonesia, are highlighted with vivid coloration and vignette illustrations of the indigenous people, architecture, and wildlife. Solid lines indicate the airlines extant routes, while dotted lines illustrate proposed routes - including the KNILM's planned amphibious routes to the rural eastern islands of the archipelago. The plane in the image is the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra, more commonly known as the Lockheed 14, the 14 passenger star of the KNILM fleet.

KNILM

Koninklijke Nederlandsch-Indische Luchtvaart Maatschappij, or KNILM, (Royal Dutch Indies Airways) was the airline of the former Dutch East Indies. The airline was founded in 1928 by Netherlandish-Indian investors. Service focused on the Dutch East Indies, modern day Indonesia, but later expanded to Southeast Asia, Asia, and Australia. During World War II, KNILM's planes were used to evacuate and transport troops. The final KNILM flight took off on March 7, 1942, one day before Java capitulated to the Japanese. A few KNILM planes managed to escape to Australia, but most were destroyed by the Japanese. After the war, the remaining aircraft were auctioned to the American government and KNILM formally disbanded. Groundside assets were sold to KLM and created the core of KLM Interinsulair Bedrijf (interinsular service), today's Garuda Indonesia Air.

Publication History and Census

This map was designed by Jan Wijga, published by NEPON, and commissioned by KNILM. Although unattributed, it was most likely printed by J. A. Luli and Company of Amsterdam - as was most of Wijga's other work. The map is undated, but based upon the air-routes depicted, we can assume an approximate date of 1935. Only one state is known. All examples are exceedingly rare, with the only identifiable surviving examples being at the Wolfsonian-Florida International University, and at the Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden.