Framed and on the wall
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Rites of the World
Antique Print of a Gathering Around a Fire in Virginia by B. Picart, 1721
Anno Domini MDCCXXI1721
$115
€100 · £85
Original print, not a reproduction
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- Date
- 1721
- Sheet size
- 15.6 × 9.7 in (39.6 × 24.6 cm)
- Condition
- Good. Please study image carefully.
- Faith
- Indigenous Americas
- Collection
- Rites of the World
- Era
- 1700 to 1799, Mortier, Picart and the illustrated Bible
- Stock no.
- f_9871723
Virginia Indians at a fire, an engraving by Bernard Picart dated 1721 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 caption, in French, reads "Les Virginiens adorent le Feu, et se rejouissent après avoir été délivrez de quelque danger considerable", and the sheet is credited "B. Picart" at the lower left.
Figures sit and crouch in a ring around a blazing fire on open ground, several of them holding rattles and raising their arms, while two others dance at the right. A column of smoke rises to a heavy sky, and canoes and other boats are on the broad river behind them, with a flat far shore. The plate is a single full-page view, with a bank and a bare tree at the right edge.
The plate belongs to Picart's survey of the religious ceremonies and customs of all nations, first issued in French between 1721 and 1725, the most elaborate history of world religion up to that time. It was adapted from earlier sources, including de Bry's illustrations of the Virginia colony, and shows Native custom as seen through European conventions.
