Alfur Man of Tondano, Celebes, Antique Hand-Colored Ethnographic Print, 1854

A man of Tondano on Celebes, now Sulawesi, an original antique hand colored print of 1854, the coloring applied by hand over a printed outline. The caption below the figure reads HAVAFORO OF ALFORE VAN TANDANO OP CELEBES., meaning Havaforo or Alfur of Tandano on Celebes; the place is spelled Tandano on the plate.

The man stands full length, turned slightly to the viewer's left, on a small patch of green and ocher ground. He wears a blue and white headcloth with a tall plume of pale feathers, several long gold-colored necklaces, a gold band on his upper arm and a fringed band below one knee. A dark cloth patterned with pale rosettes hangs from his waist over a blue sash. In his right hand he holds a long spear with a leaf-shaped point, and his left hand rests on the top of a tall, narrow shield decorated with spirals, which stands on the ground beside him. Fine red lines are drawn across his chest and shoulders.

No artist, lithographer or publisher is named on the plate, and there is no plate number above or below the image; the printed caption is the only lettering on the sheet.

The plate comes from the second volume, the Tweede Deel, of De Volken van den Aardbodem, the Dutch edition of Heinrich Berghaus's illustrated work on the peoples of the world, translated from the German by M. J. van Oven and published at Gorinchem by J. Noorduyn en Zoon in 1854. The title page of the volume announces 120 extra fine plates colored after nature. Berghaus was a German geographer, best known for his Physikalischer Atlas. Tondano lies in the Minahasa highlands of northern Sulawesi.

Light uneven toning, browner towards the edges. Marked handling soiling along all four edges. Foxing over much of the margin. Slight wear at the bottom right corner. Minor edge wear, shallow nicks along the right.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.