Nine Numbered Turbans and Headdresses, Antique Niebuhr Print, 1776

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, a plate of nine heads wearing turbans and other headdresses. It carries no title or caption; the heads are numbered 1 to 9, and the sheet is described here from what is drawn.

The top row shows three men with moustaches: 1, seen from the front in a broad wrapped turban; 2, in profile in a high wrapped turban; and 3, in profile in a tall fur cap with a folded cloth at the back. The middle row shows three bearded men in tall caps wound about with turban cloth: 4 in a tall cap with a flat top, 5 in a cap with a diamond pattern, and 6 in a fluted cap. In the bottom row, 7 is a man with a moustache in a flat topped cap wound with cloth and fastened with a jewel at the front, 8 is a bearded man in a wide flat brimmed hat, and 9 is a man with a long beard in a tall ribbed cap wound with cloth. Each face is carefully modeled in fine line, the headdresses drawn so that their wrapping and texture can be read.

No artist's or engraver's credit is lettered on this sheet. The plate number Tab: XIX. is engraved at the upper right.

The plate comes from the first volume of Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the French translation of Carsten Niebuhr's account, its title page reading TOME PREMIER. Traduit de l'Allemand. A AMSTERDAM, chez S. J. BAALDE. A UTRECHT, chez J. VAN SCHOONHOVEN & COMP. MDCCLXXVI. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive. 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. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners are present.

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