Kirghiz Man of the Central Asian Steppe, Antique Hand-Colored Print, 1854

Kirghiz Man of the Central Asian Steppe, 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 KIRGIES., which reads in English as Kirghiz. The plate shows a standing man seen from behind, with a second, smaller figure beside him. The coloring is applied by hand over a printed outline.

The main figure stands with his back to the viewer, his head turned to the right in profile, showing a long moustache. He wears a tall conical green hat with a turned-up brim and a long yellow lappet hanging behind, a long pink robe patterned with small motifs and tied with a belt, and black boots. A long gun is slung across his back, and he holds a staff in his left hand. At the right a smaller man in a pale hat and a striped pink shirt with a green sash leans on a grassy rise, holding a long gun of his own.

Apart from the caption the sheet carries no lettering: no artist, lithographer or printer is named, and there is no plate number above or below the image. The scene is vignetted on the plain paper of the page with no frame line around it.

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 top right corner. Several larger brown marks.

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