La Pérouse Alaska Tlingit Costume Engraving – French Expedition, 1797
€ 795
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1797
Sheet size
42.5 × 56.8 cm (16.7 × 22.4 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-13384-21
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 with age-related toning, light foxing, and some faint staining near the margins. The sheet shows a central fold as issued and retains wide margins, contributing to a strong overall presentation.
About this sheet
The people of Port des Français in Alaska, an original copper engraving from the atlas to the Voyage de La Pérouse autour du monde, published in Paris in 1797. The plate is lettered "Costume des habitants du Port des Français, sur la côte du Nord-Ouest de l'Amérique", with the atlas plate number at the right margin.
A group of figures gathers under a rough wooden shelter of heavy planks. Four people sit on rocks at the center, among them a woman and a child, in robes of fur and skins; one man wears a tall conical hat. At the right a man in feathers sits with a pipe, another stands at the right edge in a fur robe, and at the left a standing figure holds an axe beside a bundle and a box. Dried fish hang from a pole at the upper right, and a pine bough hangs at the edge of the sheet.
Port des Français is Lituya Bay on the Alaskan coast, visited in 1786 on the expedition of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de La Pérouse. The drawing was made by Gaspard Duché de Vancy, one of the artists of the expedition.
