View in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Elephant, Antique Engraving, circa 1825

About this sheet

This antique engraving, a view in Sierra Leone in West Africa with an elephant and monkeys, is an original early nineteenth century print published in London by Thomas Kelly of 17 Paternoster Row, circa 1815 to 1830. The plate is lettered "A View in Sierra Leone" and carries Kelly's imprint without a date.

The scene shows a river landscape with an elephant standing beneath a spreading tree, monkeys in the branches, palms and a group of huts, a composition that brings together the animals and settlement that a European reader of the time associated with West Africa. Sierra Leone, founded as a settlement for freed people in the late eighteenth century and a British colony from 1808, was much discussed in Britain in these years, and views of it appeared in popular geographies and travel books.

Thomas Kelly was one of the most successful London publishers of part works in the early nineteenth century, issuing geographies, histories and collections of voyages in weekly numbers for a wide readership. His plates were engraved in line by skilled but usually unnamed craftsmen, and this Sierra Leone engraving has no engraver's name. The imprint at 17 Paternoster Row matches other Kelly plates in this group dated between 1829 and 1832, so a date of about 1825 to 1830 is probable, though the specific book from which it comes has not been identified.

The engraving is uncoloured, printed in black on white paper with clear and lively line work. It would suit a collection of African views or natural history prints, and it would look well in a study or library, perhaps grouped with other early views of Africa and the tropics.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with toning, a few small spots in the margin, light edge soiling and a soft corner crease; the image is clean.

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.