Figure of a Turkish Pilgrim, Antique Niebuhr Costume Print, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, plate LIV of the first volume of Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie. The caption below the image reads Afbeelding van eenn' Turkschen Pelgrim. in Dutch and Figure d'un Pélerin Turc. in French, meaning figure of a Turkish pilgrim.

The plate is a full length study of a single man standing on a rise of rough ground against a wide sky with banked clouds. He is old and heavily bearded, his head shaved except for a single lock at the crown, and he looks straight out at the viewer. A large cloth is wrapped around his body and thrown over one shoulder, leaving his chest, the other shoulder and that arm bare, and a short garment falls to his knees. His legs and feet are bare. With the hand on the left of the picture he holds a very long pipe, its stem running from his mouth down to a bowl that rests on the ground and gives off a curl of smoke. His other hand is held out to the right with the fingers pointing.

The lower margin is lettered Baurenfeind, del. at the left and C. F. Fritsch, sculp. at the right, naming the draftsman and the engraver. The plate number Tab: LIV. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate belongs to the first volume of Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, marked TOME PREMIER and Traduit de l'Allemand on its title page, which carries the imprint of S. J. Baalde at Amsterdam and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp. at Utrecht and the date MDCCLXXVI. The expedition's artist, Georg Wilhelm Baurenfeind, died at sea in 1763. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom and top edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right.

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