Californian Woman in Deerskin Dress, Indigenous Portrait – Engraving 1780
€ 240
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1780
Sheet size
20.6 × 13.3 cm (8.1 × 5.2 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14129-7
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
Good antique condition. Overall age toning with scattered foxing and light surface marks, mainly in the margins. The hand coloring remains attractive and well preserved. The engraved image is crisp, with a visible plate mark.
About this sheet
A Californian woman in a hand-colored copper engraving, lettered "A Californian Woman, habited in the Skin of a Deer." The imprint at the top reads "London, Publish'd as the Act directs, by Alex. Hogg, at the Kings Arms, No. 16 Paternoster Row."
The woman stands alone in profile in the middle of the sheet, seen from the side and slightly behind. A deerskin hangs from her shoulders to her knees like a cloak, her long dark hair falls loosely over it, and below the hide shows a yellow, fringed or pleated skirt. Her feet are bare. Behind her rise rugged, pale mountains under heavy clouds, and the ground in front is a pale strip of grass and shadow. The coloring is light, in brown over the cloak, green over the ground and pale blue in the sky.
Alexander Hogg was a London publisher active in the later 18th century, and his plates were issued as costume illustrations for popular geographies and histories. The dress follows accounts of the Pacific coast brought back by European voyagers.
