Moorish Merchant of North Africa, Antique Hand-Colored Costume Print, 1854

Moorish Merchant of North Africa, 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 MOORSCH KOOPMAN., which reads in English as Moorish merchant. The single figure is a merchant, drawn at full length and in profile. The coloring is applied by hand over a printed outline.

He stands facing right on a small patch of green ground, smoking a long pipe, its mouthpiece at his lips and his hand holding the stem near the bowl. Over his head and shoulders falls a large white hooded cloak, finished with red tassels at the hood and at the hem, and under the hood he wears a headcloth banded in blue, white and red. Beneath the cloak he wears a blue sleeveless vest over a shirt with deep yellow sleeves trimmed at the cuff, a red sash at the waist with a small yellow pouch hanging from a cord, wide white trousers gathered below the knee, and red slippers. The robes are carried in flat washes of hand color over a finely hatched printed outline.

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. European writers of the period used the word Moor loosely for the town populations of the Maghreb, and the caption follows that usage.

Loss or wear at the bottom right corner. Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right.

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