Research Catalog

Title

Orientalist images of dance in prints [graphic].

Publication

[18--?]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Bunbury, Henry William, 1750-1811.
• Chapman, J. (John), active 1792-1823.
• Denon, Vivant, 1747-1825.
• Mansell, Joseph, 1803-1874.
• Mantegazza, Giacomo, 1853-1920.

Description

7 prints : etching, engraving, or lithograph, color, one color or b&w; 40 x 30 cm. or smaller.

Summary

Collection culled from various sources, chiefly dating from the nineteenth century. Many of the prints in this collection have been trimmed of identifying captions or text. These prints depict dancers from Egypt, Turkey, Persia, and other countries of the Middle East, as seen through the eyes of European artists. Some images may have been inspired by theatrical works or ballets. In general, glamour and exoticism are stressed, rather than ethnographic accuracy. Most of the dancers portrayed are women, although this collection includes prints of a man disguised as a woman, and a woman costumed as a man.

Subjects

• Dancers > Egypt
• Etchings
• Dancers > Middle East
• Lithographs
• Orientalism in dance
• Dancers > Turkey

Genre/Form

• Etchings.
• Lithographs.

Note

• Title devised by cataloger.

Source (note)

• Lincoln Kirstein.
• Cia Fornaroli Toscanini Collection

Biography (note)

• The British Museum holds a print with the English title "Morigiani Discovering the Arabian Robber through his Disguise Stabs him whilst Dancing before her Master." Its image reverses that of the print in this collection. Published in London in 1790, it was engraved by Thomas Ryder and Laurence J. Cosse after the British etcher and caricaturist Henry William Bunbury. A print with the French title "Morigiani reconnoit le voleur arabe et le poignarde" is listed in entry 10707 of the catalog Cabinet de M. Paignon Dijonval (1810) as the second of four prints by Bunbury on subjects drawn from "contes arabes," but cannot be confirmed as the same print in this collection.
• The print of two women dancing in an interior is also held by the Wellcome Library in London under the title: "A man smoking a long pipe with a woman leaning against him is watching as two women dance to the tune played by the woman with a pipe. Coloured engraving by J. Chapman after Denon." Its publication information is given as: London, J. Wilkes, 1804.

Contents

Morigiani reconnoit le Voleur Arab malgré son deguisement et le poignarde tandis qu'il dansoit en présence de son Maitre. Les Contes Arabes -- Dancing girl [handwritten on the verso] / J[oseph?] Mansell, 1856 [handwritten on the verso] -- [Dancing couple; the male figure appears to be a woman en travesti] -- [Two dancing women] -- [Two women dancing in an interior, accompanied by female musicians, with a man and two women observing. Title trimmed off] / Denon delt. ; J. Chapman sculp -- [Female dancer with tambourine, accompanied by male musicians] / G. Mantegazza -- [Female dancer] / Edouard-Duberte [?] 67 [?] ; Imp. Lemercier et Cie., Paris.

Call Number

*MGZFX Ori 1-7

OCLC

825776064

Title

Orientalist images of dance in prints [graphic].

Imprint

[18--?]

Biography

The British Museum holds a print with the English title "Morigiani Discovering the Arabian Robber through his Disguise Stabs him whilst Dancing before her Master." Its image reverses that of the print in this collection. Published in London in 1790, it was engraved by Thomas Ryder and Laurence J. Cosse after the British etcher and caricaturist Henry William Bunbury. A print with the French title "Morigiani reconnoit le voleur arabe et le poignarde" is listed in entry 10707 of the catalog Cabinet de M. Paignon Dijonval (1810) as the second of four prints by Bunbury on subjects drawn from "contes arabes," but cannot be confirmed as the same print in this collection.

The print of two women dancing in an interior is also held by the Wellcome Library in London under the title: "A man smoking a long pipe with a woman leaning against him is watching as two women dance to the tune played by the woman with a pipe. Coloured engraving by J. Chapman after Denon." Its publication information is given as: London, J. Wilkes, 1804.

Local Note

Cataloging funds provided by Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

Source

Morigiani reconnoit le Voleur Arab, [Dancing couple with woman en travesti] Gift; Lincoln Kirstein.

[Female dancer with tambourine] Gift; Cia Fornaroli Toscanini Collection, 1954.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Added Author

Bunbury, Henry William, 1750-1811. Attributed name

Chapman, J. (John), active 1792-1823. Engraver

Denon, Vivant, 1747-1825. Artist

Mansell, Joseph, 1803-1874. Attributed name

Mantegazza, Giacomo, 1853-1920. Artist

Kirstein, Lincoln, 1907-1996. Donor

Research Call Number

*MGZFX Ori 1-7