The Rite of Sati, an Indian Widow on the Pyre, Steel Engraving, 1859
€ 210
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1859
Mapmaker / artist
Published by Gebroeders Kraay
Publisher
Gebroeders Kraay, Amsterdam
Technique
Steel Engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Sheet size
15.5 × 24 cm (6.1 × 9.4 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-00114-14
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Light handling wear to the bottom left and bottom right corners; edges straight and without nicks. Even age toning, lightly soiled along the bottom edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin.
About this sheet
An original antique steel engraving, uncolored, lettered "EENE SUTTI, OF JNDISCHE WEDUWE." In the center a woman sits on a funeral pyre with her arms outstretched as flames and a tall column of smoke rise around her. A dense crowd of men in turbans and long robes stands with their backs to the viewer, some armed with swords and round shields, while a horseman watches from the left and a group of veiled women stands apart at the far left. At the right, riders sit in canopied howdahs on the backs of elephants, beside a mounted figure. A tapering temple tower and a domed building rise among the trees on the left, and a pavilion with a pyramid roof stands behind the pyre.
The plate is lettered below the image in Dutch: "EENE SUTTI, OF JNDISCHE WEDUWE.", which translates as "A sati, or Indian widow". Beneath the caption, in a small script, is the publisher's imprint "Uitg Gebrs Kraaÿ Amsterdam.", short for uitgegeven (published) by the Kraay brothers of Amsterdam. No artist or engraver is named on the plate.
It was issued in 1859 in A. van Otterloo's Britsch-Indië, beschreven naar de nieuwste bronnen, published in Amsterdam by Gebroeders Kraay as the opening volume of their series Vreemde Landen en Volken (Foreign Lands and Peoples). The title page describes the book as illustrated with twenty-four steel engravings and a map, and each view carries its own Dutch caption and the Kraay imprint.
Sati, the burning of a widow on her husband's pyre, was outlawed in the Bengal Presidency in 1829 and was a frequent subject of European writing on India. The plate is a historical document of how Europeans pictured the practice.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
