5. Black Swans

Amongst the transported animals that survived the Baudin expedition’s return to France was a pair of rare black swans. Although Willem de Vlamingh’s 1697 expedition to the west coast of Australia recorded sighting black swans, the animals they captured died before they could be brought to Europe. As most people at the time had only ever encountered white swans, the possibility of a black swan was mythical and exciting.  Such was the spectacle of seeing black swans, that the Dutch explorers named the river the ‘Swarte Swaene-Drift’ (Black Swan River) or ‘Zwaanenrivier’.

With the return of Baudin’s expedition to France, the menagerie of fantastical animals such as swans, kangaroos and platypus were exotic drawcards to Empress Joséphine’s garden. Many of these introduced animals did not respond well to the European climate and eventually died, however the black swans thrived in their new home. To Joséphine’s great pleasure, they reproduced, and were the first captive pair in Europe to do so.

Such was Joséphine’s love of the black swans, she incorporated their design (as well as plants and flowers) as a motif into her wallpapers, silks, and even her carved four poster bed.