Estonians, an Ostyak and a Lapp Camp, Hand Colored Lithograph, 1842

An original antique lithograph with hand coloring, from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). In the upper image a fair haired woman in a red dress and striped apron sits on the ground holding a small dark bundle at her breast, beside a basket. Next to her a man in a wide straw hat, long brown coat, red sash and yellow breeches holds a tall pole, with a curved scythe blade on the ground at his feet. To the right a bearded man in a fur trimmed brown coat and a white skirt holds a fish in one hand and in the other a long staff ending in an oval, decorated blade. The lower image shows a camp beside a lake: a conical tent stands at right, a woman in red at its entrance, while a man in a red turban, yellow robe and red cloak stands by a smoking fire and two others crouch beside it. A boat is pulled up on the shore and fish hang drying on a pole frame at left.

The top margin is lettered Tom. IV at upper left, "LAPPONIA" at center and Tav. 89 at upper right. The captions read "Estlandesi" (Estonians), "Ostiaco" (Ostyak) and "Lapponi" (Lapps).

Lapponia is Lapland, the northern homeland of the Sami, called Lapps in the period. Estonians lived on the eastern Baltic coast, and the Ostyaks, today known as the Khanty, are a people of western Siberia. The plate gathers these northern peoples under a single heading.

The fireside scene and the fur clad figure make this an evocative plate for collectors of northern Europe and the Arctic.

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