Snow Sledge Drawn by Dogs in Kamchatka, Russia, Antique Engraving, 1829

About this sheet

This antique engraving of a snow sledge drawn by dogs in Kamchatka is an original 1829 print published in London by Thomas Kelly, showing a traveller in furs driving a dog team across the snows of the Russian Far East. The plate is lettered "A snow sledge drawn by dogs in Kamtschatka", using the old spelling of the peninsula.

The scene is composed with a strong sense of movement: a man wrapped in heavy furs sits low on a narrow sledge while a team of dogs pulls him over open snow, with dark firs and mountains closing the view behind. Travel by dog sledge was one of the features of Kamchatka that most fascinated European readers, who knew the region chiefly from the accounts of the Russian expeditions and of Captain Cook's third voyage, whose ships wintered nearby at Petropavlovsk in 1779.

The imprint reads "London, Published by Thomas Kelly, 17, Paternoster Row, 1829". Kelly was one of the most prolific London publishers of the period, issuing geographies, voyages and histories in weekly parts illustrated with small engraved plates, and this view belongs to that popular market. The engraver is not named on the plate. It is a line engraving printed in black and is uncoloured.

This Kamchatka engraving would suit a collection of Arctic and Siberian travel, of dog sledging and winter scenes, or of early nineteenth century geographical plates. Framed with a pale mount, the fine line work of the snow and the fur clothing reads well at close range in a study or hallway.

The sheet is in good condition for its age, with light toning and scattered foxing mostly in the margins, a few faint spots reaching the image and soft wear at the lower corners.

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.