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Title: Indigenous Festival at CuscoStyle: Colonial-Era Ethnographic Scene – Ritual Bonfire & Animal Offerings in PeruSource: America – by John Ogilby (English edition of Arnoldus Montanus’s De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld)Published: London, 1671Engraver: Likely Jacob van Meurs (after Montanus)Technique: Copperplate engravingLanguage: English (caption), Latin (plate elements)Size: Half sheet approx. 8 × 9.25 inchesCondition: Very good + — strong impression, partial text, light age toning
DescriptionThis authentic 1671 copperplate engraving presents a ceremonial scene of Indigenous Peruvians celebrating a seasonal festival in Cusco, as published in Ogilby’s America, the English adaptation of Montanus’s Dutch atlas.• Titled “The Manner of the Feast which the Indians used to make at Cusco”• Depicts ritual bonfire, animal offerings, and ceremonial dancing in a forested Andean setting• Participants wear feathered headdresses and carry spears, evoking pre-Columbian ceremonial attire• Scene reflects European attempts to document Indigenous rites, filtered through colonial fascinationIdeal for collectors of early ethnographic prints, colonial-era visual culture, and Indigenous ceremonial history.
Historical Context & ProvenanceArnoldus Montanus’s De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld (Amsterdam, 1671), translated and published by John Ogilby in London, was one of the earliest illustrated European atlases of the Americas. This engraving, from Chapter IV, depicts a ritual gathering in Cusco, Peru, circa early 16th century. Though interpreted through a European lens, the image remains a rare visual record of Indigenous ritual practice.
Shipping & GuaranteeThis is an original 17th-century engraving—not a reproduction.Shrink-wrapped on acid-free backing and mailed flat.30-day return policy for any reason.
