Details
Title Femmes à Kréennes [graphic].
Title Women in Kréennes
Publisher [Paris: s.n]
Publisher FRANCE. Paris. 1793
Date [1793]
Physical Description 1 print: wood engraving; image 14 x 9 cm. (5.5 x 3.5 in)
Description The engraving features three women from Kréennes and a young boy. Although it serves as the frontispiece, it accompanies letter VIII, "Du Fort de Christiansbourg, sur la Côte de Guinnée, Du 16 Octobre 1785," in which Isert discussed the importance of women's dress and appearance in Kréenes ("cette importante affaire"). As he explained, the women there often spent two hours at their toilette. The results of these efforts can be seen most clearly in the figure on the right: her hair is in a bun, and she wears a gold necklace. (In Kréennes, particular emphasis was placed on the decoration of head.) More strikingly, however, her skin is stamped with shapes, such as the cresent on her forehead and the star on her right forearm. As Isert noted, it was customary for women to soak wooden forms in bright paint and stamp their skin.
Is part of Isert, Paul Erdmann, 1756-1789. Voyages en Guinée et dans les îles Caraïbes en Amérique. Paris: chez Maradan, libraire, rue du Cimitière Saint André, no. 9, M.DCC.XCIII [1793].
Notes Frontispiece for Paul E. Isert's Voyages en Guinée et dans les îles Caraïbes en Amérique (A Paris: chez Maradan, libraire, rue du Cimitière Saint André, no. 9, M.DCC.XCIII [1793]).
Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
Genre Wood engravings -- 1790-1800.
Book illustrations -- 1790-1800.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Books & Other Texts | Rare | Am 1793 Isert 6944.D frontispiece
Accession number 6944.D