Karneyeff
Toungouses sortant de leur Campement d'hiver
[Tungus leaving their winter camp]
Adam & Gros, Paris: early 19th C.
Color-printed aquatint
10 x 14 inches, image
15 x 18.5 inches, overall
$450

Members of the Tungus tribe leave their winter encampment in sleds pulled by reindeer across a frozen lake. The Tungus are an indigenous group of northern Siberian people, known since the Russian Revolution as the Evenk. When this print was made, they were a nomadic people, moving about the tundra with their herds of reindeer. They hunted sable and ermine, and made most of the necessities of life from raw materials in their environment. Title of the image, artist's and engraver's names are given in Russian and French.

Our research suggests that Karneyeff (rendered Karnejeff in French) was a Russian naturalist and painter active in the first quarter of the 19th century.

Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall toning, wear, soft creases. Top edge irregularly cut. Minor marginal foxing.

References:

"Les Evenk." International Commission for the Rights of Aboriginal People. 1997. http://users.skynet.be/icra.belgique/siberie/evenk.htm (17 January 2003).

"Colonial Secretary Index, 1788-1825." http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/colsec/l/F32c_la-12.htm (20 January 2003).