Papuan Man of Dorey Harbor, New Guinea, Antique Hand-Colored Print, 1854

A Papuan man of Dorey on the north coast of 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: PAPUA OF PAPOE VAN DE HAVEN DOREY. and (Nieuw-Guinea.), meaning Papua or Papoe of the harbor of Dorey (New Guinea).

The young man stands full length in profile, facing left, beside a fallen log on a patch of grassy shore. His hair is dressed in a very large rounded mass, with a long ornament set in it that carries small red and yellow pendants. Two thin cords cross over his chest, and he wears dark bands on his upper arm and wrist and a yellow loincloth. His right arm rests on a long blade whose point is set on the ground before him. Light marks are drawn on his cheek, and he wears a small ornament at the ear.

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. Dorey is the old name of the anchorage at Manokwari, on Doreri Bay in the north of New Guinea.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along the bottom, left and top edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left, bottom right and top left corners.

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