An Arab Woman of the Tehama, Antique Niebuhr Costume Print, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate LIX of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's account of his travels in Arabia. The caption reads Afbeelding eener Arabierinn' in Tehâma. in Dutch and Figure d'une Femme Arabe de Tehâma. in French, meaning "Figure of an Arab woman of the Tihama", the coastal plain of Yemen along the Red Sea.

The woman stands full length and barefoot, stepping forward toward the viewer. A long light veil is drawn over her head and held at her shoulder with her right hand, then falls behind her and lifts in the wind. She wears a long loose gown with very wide sleeves over full trousers banded at the ankle, and her left hand points out to the right. Her jewelry is drawn with care: large hoop earrings, a band across the forehead, several strings of beads and an ornamented pendant at the neck, and stacked bangles on her raised arm. Behind her the ground falls away to hills and a pair of rocky peaks at the right, with a crenellated wall and leafy shrubs at the left.

The lower margin is lettered Baurenfeind, del. at the left and C. F. Fritsch. sculp. at the right. The plate number Tab. LIX. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate comes from the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, Traduit de l'Allemand (translated from the German), published A Amsterdam, chez S. J. Baalde and A Utrecht, chez J. van Schoonhoven & Comp., with the date MDCCLXXVI (1776) on the title page. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive. The expedition's artist, Georg Wilhelm Baurenfeind, died at sea in 1763.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom and right edges. Foxing over much of the margin. A small chip in the left edge near the bottom left corner. Slight wear at the top right corner.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.