Elephanta Cave Sculpture at Station 4, Antique Niebuhr Print, 1780

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1780, a carved relief panel from the cave temple on Elephanta. The caption reads Afbeelding der Figuuren by 4 op den Platten Grond Pl. III. in Dutch and Réprésentation des Figures prés de 4 sur le Plan Pl. III. in French, meaning "Representation of the figures at 4 on the ground plan, plate III".

The center of the panel is taken by a large figure in a tall, ornamented headdress, shown from the hips up with several arms. One raised hand grips a serpent, another holds a round shield, and a lower arm rests on the head of a bull at the left. Below the figure the rock is broken away, drawn in loose, ragged hatching. Around it the relief is crowded with smaller figures. Two groups float across the top of the panel; at the upper left a figure with three faces sits on a curved base carved with birds; at the left a standing figure holds a trident; at the right one figure rides on the shoulders of another; and at the lower right a woman carries a covered dish. The numbers in the caption refer to the numbered positions on the ground plan of the cave temple at Elephanta, engraved as plate III (Tab. III) of the same volume.

The plate is signed "Fritschius, fec." below the lower right corner of the border, and lettered "Tab. VI." at the upper right.

The plate comes from the second volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the French translation printed for S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and Barthelemy Wild at Utrecht; the title page of the volume reads TOME SECOND and is dated MDCCLXXX. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen, and this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht. 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.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner.

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