New Guinea Islander of Prinses Marianne Strait, Hand-Colored Print, 1854

A man of the Prinses Marianne Strait in New Guinea, an original antique hand colored print of 1854, the coloring applied by hand over a printed outline. The caption is printed in two lines below the figure: INBOORLING VAN DE STRAAT PRINSES MARIANE. and (Nieuw-Guinea.), meaning Native of the Prinses Marianne Strait (New Guinea).

A bearded man with long dark hair stands full length in shallow water, facing the viewer. In his right hand, at the viewer's left, he holds a tall bamboo spear upright, and in his left hand, held low across his body, he grips a bow and a sheaf of long red-shafted arrows. He wears a blue band around his upper arm and a blue belt set with a white shell, and two rectangular marks are drawn on his chest. Leafy trees with trailing roots rise behind him, washed in pale green, and his reflection shows in the water at his feet.

No artist, lithographer or publisher is named on the plate, and there is no plate number above or below the image; the printed caption is the only lettering on the sheet.

The plate comes from the second volume, the Tweede Deel, 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. The Prinses Marianne Strait separates the island formerly called Frederik Hendrik Island from the south coast of New Guinea.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners read as present in the scan. Several larger brown marks.

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