Siberian Family of the Kachintsy, Antique Hand-Colored Print, Berghaus, 1854

Siberian Family of the Kachintsy, 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 TURKSCHE FAMILIE VAN DEN STAM DER KATSCHINZEN., which reads in English as Turkic family of the Kachintsy tribe. The plate shows a group of three figures. The coloring is applied by hand over a printed outline.

A man in a long yellow robe with a blue sash and red ribbons at his collar kneels on one knee, aiming a long gun that rests on a forked support planted in the ground at the left. He wears a fur hat with a red ribbon and a knife and pouch at his belt. A small child in a fur garment stands barefoot beside him, reaching toward the gun. Behind them stands a woman with long braids, a dark round headdress set with small white beads, a lavender coat and a green dress with a striped sash, her hand resting on the child's shoulder. The group is set on a rounded patch of ground with a rocky bank behind.

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. The Kachintsy are one of the peoples of the Minusinsk basin in southern Siberia now grouped together as the Khakas.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners read as present in the scan. One larger brown mark.

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