Jewelry Designs, "Voyage en Abyssinie"
Not on view
Lithograph with a variety of illustrations of Abyssinian jewelry and accessories, possibly part of an album with images from a travel book on Abyssinia. Several travel books narrating travelers' adventures and describing Abyssinian culture were published between the 1830s and into the 1850s in France, probably as a result of the fascination of the French with Mediterranean and African cultures, including also the Etruscan and Egyptian, during the 19th century revivalism. This plate contains illustrations of earrings, chokers, necklaces, bracelets and headbands, among other ornaments, including some special accessories meant to be worn for war, typical of the Abyssinian culture. It also contains two heads, a male and a female, of the native people wearing accessories of the types of those illustrated.
