Uzbek Man of Central Asia, Antique Hand-Colored Ethnographic Print, 1854

Uzbek Man of Central Asia, 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 USBEK., which reads in English as Uzbek. The figure is a single man standing at full length. The coloring is applied by hand over a printed outline.

He faces the viewer with his left hand on his hip and a moustache under a large white turban, a long end of which falls down his back. He wears a long white shirt to below the knee and over it a loose green robe lined in yellow, with wide sleeves turned back. A broad sash striped in pink, blue and yellow is wound at his waist, with a brown cord and tassel at the front and a fur-trimmed pouch at his right side. His tall boots are pink-red with pointed toes, and he stands on rough ground washed in green and ocher.

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.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left corner.

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