Young Arab Woman, Antique Hand-Colored Ethnographic Costume Print, 1854

Young Arab Woman, 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 JEUGDIG ARABISCH MEISJE., which reads in English as young Arab girl. The figure is set in a landscape with buildings. The coloring is applied by hand over a printed outline.

The young woman stands in profile facing right, her long hair falling in two braids down her back from a tall white cap patterned in red and tied with a red bow. Her upper body is partly bare, a pink and white striped garment crossing one shoulder; gold bands circle her upper arm and wrists, and a striped skirt in pink and white reaches to her sandaled feet. A spotted animal skin is wrapped around her hips and hangs in a point at the front. Behind her the setting is drawn in: banana plants and a tree at left, thatched huts in the middle distance, and at right a raised wooden structure with a small figure standing on its platform.

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 right corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right.

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