Antique Print of Ceremonies of the Incas 'South America' by B. Picart, 1723

Name: Antique Print of Ceremonies of the Incas 'South America' by B. Picart, 1723
Brand: Theodor de Bry
SKU: BGI-01189
Price: 140 USD
Availability: InStock

$140

€125 · dollar price at today's exchange rate

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Shipping to the United States: $51 standard, $73 express, insured and tracked.

Date: 1723
Maker: Theodor de Bry
Kind: Native Peoples
Size: 35.5 × 23.8 cm (14 × 9.4 in)
Condition: Good. Please study image carefully.
Period: Colonial America
Places: Peru, South America
Reference: BGI-01189

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.

Guaranteed original. This is an original of the period stated, not a later reproduction or print-on-demand copy. If it is ever shown to be otherwise, we refund you in full.

Shipping to the United States. Sent from our gallery in Langweer, the Netherlands, flat between boards or rolled in a tube, and fully insured. Delivery and import charges.

About this piece

Two scenes of the Inca court on one sheet, an engraving by Bernard Picart dated 1723 in the listing, from the Dutch edition (1727-1738) of "Naaukeurige beschryving der godtsdienst-plichten, kerk-zeden en gewoontens van alle volkeren der waereldt". The sheet is lettered in French and credited "B. Picart del." at the lower left.

The upper scene is captioned "Maniere dont l'Yncas marie ceux de son sang". A crowd of feathered and cloaked figures stands in a plaza before a domed building, in the pairs the ruler joins in marriage. The lower scene is captioned "On coupe les cheveux, et on donne un nom aux fils de l'Yncas", the ceremony in which a child is named and has his hair cut. It takes place in a columned hall before an enthroned seated figure, with onlookers and bare-chested attendants filling the right of the room.

The plates belong to Picart's survey of the religious ceremonies and customs of all nations, published in French between 1721 and 1725, which was the most elaborate history of world religion up to that time. Picart and others drew on earlier sources, among them de Bry, so the Peru depicted here is a European construction.

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