Dance of California Indians, Tower of Tlaxcallan – Hand-Colored Engraving, c1800

Name: Dance of California Indians, Tower of Tlaxcallan – Hand-Colored Engraving, c1800
Brand: American Maps and Prints
SKU: BG-14129-8
Price: 270 USD
Availability: InStock

$270

€240 · dollar price at today's exchange rate

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

Date: 1800
Kind: Views & Engravings
Size: 25 × 16.2 cm (9.8 × 6.4 in)
Condition: Good. Good antique condition. Even age toning with scattered foxing and light surface marks, mostly in the margins. The hand coloring remains fresh and attractive. The engraved image is crisp, with a visible plate mark. Minor edge wear consistent with age.
Places: California
Reference: BG-14129-8

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

Dance of California Indians above the tower of an ancient American city, a hand-colored copper engraving from a German work, headed "Nord Amerika," "Taf. 18" and "II. Bd. I. Abth." The two captions read "Tanz der Indianer auf Californien" and "Thurm der altamerikanischen Stadt Tlapallan."

The upper scene shows six men dancing in a line across a clearing, linked hand to hand. They wear feather headdresses, bead collars and short waist cloths colored in red, yellow, pink and blue, and palm trees and low huts stand behind them. In the lower view, a stepped tower of three tiers with arched openings rises above a grassy foreground, with trees at either side, and a tiny figure walks a path at the lower right under a cloudy sky.

The plate numbering shows that it was issued in a German multi-volume survey of the peoples and monuments of the world, with the Americas as one section. Such works pair costume and custom with architecture from Europe's picture of the ancient New World.

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