Antique Print of Costumes from Timor by Prot (1825)

Description: Antique print, titled: 'Coupang: Ile Timor. Divers Costumes.' - ('Coupang, Timor Island. Various costumes'). Three figures in the native dress of the Indonesian island Timor. A young woman plays a harp-like instrument while another brings a bowl of soup to the third figure. Source: 'Voyage autour du monde sur les corvettes Uranie et la Physicienne pendant les années 1817, 1818, 1819 et 1820', Paris: 1825. This series of exquisitely engraved prints constitutes a unique documentation of exotic unknown lands and their inhabitants, made during the voyage of the Uranie (in honour of the muse of astronomy and geography). The expedition was led by Louis de Freycinet at the behest of the newly restored French king Louis XVIII and to restore prestige for the French nation.

Artists and Engravers: Made by 'Prot' after 'J. Alphonse Pellion'. Marie Joseph Alphonse Pellion (known as Odet-Pellion, 1796-1868) was a French vice-admiral. Author: Louis Claude de Saulces de Freycinet (1779-1841) was a French navigator who circumnavigated the earth. In 1811 he published the first map to show the compl