Inhabitants of California, Indigenous Dress and Daily Life Engraving, c1774
£245
$325 · €290
Original print, not a reproduction.
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- Date
- Not stated
- Sheet size
- 15.6 × 9.8 in (39.5 × 24.8 cm)
- Condition
- Good. Good original condition, with light age-related toning and minor surface wear consistent with an 18th-century engraving. The plate impression remains clear and evenly inked. Margins are present and stable.
- Wardrobe
- Far & away
- Stock no.
- f_47986552
The Indigenous inhabitants of California in four small scenes on a single copper-engraved sheet, attributed to John Hawkesworth (London, c.1774). The heading reads "The Inhabitants of California in their respective Dresses" with "Vol. I. p. 234" at the upper right.
The sheet is divided into two framed views, each with two captioned figures. At the upper left a man carries a spear and a bundle over his shoulder, captioned "An Indian Man returned from Fishing". Beside him, "An Indian Fishing on his Bark-Log" kneels on a raft of lashed logs and paddles across open water. In the lower view, "An Indian Woman of Distinction covered with the Skin of a Bird in its Feathers" stands with a bow, while "An Indian Woman in the ordinary Deer Skin Dress" is seen from behind, wrapped in a hide. A snow-capped volcanic peak rises behind the women.
California was barely known in print to British readers at this date, and plates of this kind were assembled from the accounts of earlier voyagers. The sheet is a European reconstruction of dress, tools and fishing methods rather than an eyewitness record.
