Kamtchatka and kirghiz steppes — engraving

'Scenery and animated life. Kamtchatka and kirghiz steppes'.

Technique, Material: Steel engraving / Paper
Artist:,  Engraver: 
Date: London & Edinburgh, Thomas G. Jack, "The Illustrated Globe Encyclopaedia of Universal Information",  A. Fullerton & Co., 1877 год.
Size: 19 х 26 cm.

This composite plate from "The Illustrated Globe Encyclopaedia of Universal Information" (A. Fullarton & Co., c. 1877) presents a unique combination of ethnographic and geographical subjects from two distant regions of the Russian Empire — Kamchatka and the Kirghiz Steppes (modern Kazakhstan and Central Asia). For the 19th-century European reader, both regions were equally exotic and little-known, which explains their grouping on a single plate.

The plate contains five images:

Kirghiz Females — two women in traditional Kyrgyz (Kazakh) costumes. On the left, likely a young or unmarried woman in an elaborate headdress; on the right, a woman in a warm robe and characteristic tall headdress resembling a saukele.

Kyrgyz-Kazak — a scene from nomadic life. In the foreground, a rider on horseback, dressed in warm clothing and a fur headdress. In his right hand, he holds a whip (nagaika). Slung over his shoulder and across his back is an object resembling a bow. At his belt hangs a quiver (saadak) with arrows. A yurt, the traditional nomadic dwelling, is visible in the background.

Kirghiz Hunting with the Falcon — a falconry scene. A rider in traditional costume, with a hunting bird on his hand, gallops across the steppe — one of the most romantic and characteristic scenes of nomadic life, highly valued by European travelers and artists.

Petropavlovski — a view of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Depicts the main town of Kamchatka, located on the shores of Avacha Bay. Visible are wooden buildings, ships, and the characteristic volcanic landscape of Kamchatka.

This grouping of subjects is a typical example of the Victorian approach to encyclopedic illustration, where images providing the broadest possible representation of different parts of the world were collected on a single page.