Prince of Imereti, Georgia, Antique Hand-Colored Costume Print, 1854

Prince of Imereti, 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 VORST VAN IMERETHI., which reads in English as prince of Imereti. The single figure is a man standing at full length in Caucasian dress. The coloring is applied by hand over a printed outline.

He faces the viewer, head turned slightly to the left, with a long moustache under a round hat with a blue brim. He wears an orange-red coat with long open sleeves that hang from the shoulders to show green undersleeves, crossed cords on the chest and silver-capped cartridge holders on each breast, a dark belt, and very full dark breeches tucked into pointed yellow boots. His right hand rests on his hip, and with his left he holds a long gun upright beside him. A curved saber in a pale scabbard hangs at his left side.

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. Imereti was a kingdom in western Georgia until its annexation by the Russian Empire in 1810.

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.

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