Nine Numbered Turbans and Headdresses, Antique Niebuhr Print, 1776
€ 355
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1776
Mapmaker / artist
Carsten Niebuhr
Publisher
S. J. Baalde, Amsterdam, and J. van Schoonhoven and Comp., Utrecht
Technique
Copper engraving
Coloring
Uncolored
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14407-1-19
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 uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners are present.
About this sheet
This is an original antique copper engraving from 1776, a plate of nine heads wearing turbans and other headdresses. It carries no title or caption; the heads are numbered 1 to 9, and the sheet is described here from what is drawn.
The top row shows three men with moustaches: 1, seen from the front in a broad wrapped turban; 2, in profile in a high wrapped turban; and 3, in profile in a tall fur cap with a folded cloth at the back. The middle row shows three bearded men in tall caps wound about with turban cloth: 4 in a tall cap with a flat top, 5 in a cap with a diamond pattern, and 6 in a fluted cap. In the bottom row, 7 is a man with a moustache in a flat topped cap wound with cloth and fastened with a jewel at the front, 8 is a bearded man in a wide flat brimmed hat, and 9 is a man with a long beard in a tall ribbed cap wound with cloth. Each face is carefully modeled in fine line, the headdresses drawn so that their wrapping and texture can be read.
No artist's or engraver's credit is lettered on this sheet. The plate number Tab: XIX. is engraved at the upper right.
The plate comes from the first volume of Voyage en Arabie & en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, the French translation of Carsten Niebuhr's account, its title page reading TOME PREMIER. Traduit de l'Allemand. A AMSTERDAM, chez S. J. BAALDE. A UTRECHT, chez J. VAN SCHOONHOVEN & COMP. MDCCLXXVI. Carsten Niebuhr (1733 to 1815) was a German born surveyor in Danish service and the only member of the Danish expedition to Arabia (1761 to 1767), sent by King Frederick V of Denmark, to return alive. The account was first published in German at Copenhagen; this is the French translation printed in Amsterdam and Utrecht.
Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Handling soiling along the bottom, right and top edges. Scattered light foxing in the margin. All four corners are present.
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.
