Georgian Woman in Traditional Dress, Antique Hand-Colored Print, 1854

Georgian Woman in Traditional Dress, an original antique hand colored print of 1854 from the second volume of Heinrich Berghaus's work on the peoples of the world in its Dutch edition. The plate is captioned in Dutch GEORGISCHE VROUW., which reads in English as Georgian woman. The figure is a woman, standing at full length. The coloring is applied by hand over a printed outline.

She stands facing the viewer with her head slightly inclined, under a long white veil that falls from a white headband marked with a small gilt triangle and reaches down past her elbows. Strings of pearls hang at her neck. Her long gown is a deep red-brown, fitted at the bodice, with a gold collar piece and white cuffs. A long yellow sash embroidered in red and blue falls from her waist down the front of the skirt, and she holds it with her right hand, while in her left she carries a small book. Blue shoes show at the hem, and she stands on a strip of pale ground.

The caption is the only lettering on the sheet. No artist, lithographer or printer is named on the plate, and it carries no plate number. The figure stands on the plain paper of the page with no frame line, and the caption is printed in small capitals below.

The plate comes from the second volume of De Volken van den Aardbodem, the Dutch edition of Heinrich Berghaus's illustrated work on the peoples of the world, translated from the German by M. J. van Oven and published at Gorinchem by J. Noorduyn en Zoon in 1854. The title page of the volume announces 120 extra fine plates colored after nature. Berghaus was a German geographer, best known for his Physikalischer Atlas.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner. Several larger brown marks.

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