Portrait image of a Zoolu (i.e, Zulu) prophetess whom Isaacs met during his travels. He described her as follows, "Her person . . . did not less attract my attention than the hostile attitudes and habiliments of her guards. Her head was partly shaved, as is the custom of the natives. Her hair was thick, and seemed besmeared with fat and charcoal.One eyelid was painted red, the other black; and her nose was rendered more ornamental than nature had designed it, by being also blackened by the same preparation." As he also noted, she carried a "stick or wand, with a black cow's tail tied to the end, which she flourished about with infinite solemnity." (p. 166-167). In the lithograph, the prophetess wears an ornate head-piece and ceremonial dress; she holds a small nosegay to her breast., Plate in Nathaniel Isaacs's Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa: Descriptive of the Zoolu Manners, Customs, etc. etc.: With a Sketch of Natal (London: Edward Churton, 26, Holles Street, 1836)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
Creator
Bagg, William, lithographer
Date
[1836]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Isaac 6281.D vol 2 p 166, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2917
