[after Cornelis de Bruyn, published c.1737]
Engraving, platemark 310 x 200mm (11½ x 7¾").
Plate from the Dutch artist and writer Cornelis de Bruyn's (1652-1727) 'Travels into Muscovy, Persia, and part of the East-Indies', as the 1737 English translation was titled. Visiting an estate near Batavia (modern Jakarta), de Bruyn writes: 'I drew two Baliers, who were slaves to Mr. Kastelein, with the dress they wore in this as well as in their own country. They fold part of their habit, which is usually made of striped stuff, round their waist to which they fasten it by one end, and suffer the rest to flow down to their feet. The upper part of their attire, which is of a different colour, covers their breast, and then descends to their knees. They generally have a handkerchief in their hand, and their hair is plaited into a point on the upper part of their head. Their arms and feet are naked'.
[Ref: 41202]  £120.00