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De Bry - "How the deceased Brahmin are cremated"- Original - 1599 India - Suttee
De Bry - "How the deceased Brahmin are cremated"- Original - 1599 India - Suttee
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"How the deceased Brahmin are cremated / Suttee"
-Original Copperplate Engraving from 1599
-Johan Theodore De Bry
-Image 14x10cm
-Page 29x19cm
-Page 29x19cm
-Good condition
-Verso blank
This original engraving comes from part 2 of the Petits Voyages of De Bry, which describes the voyages of Linschoten. From Holland, Jan Huyghen van Linschoten sailed to Goa in India in 1583 and went on to explore the Malabar and Coromandel coastal regions. He stayed for several years, before eventually returning home by way of Terceira in the Azores, where he stayed for 3 years. Throughout this period he collected much information from other Dutch sailors and gunners who had served with the Portuguese in the East.
This is Plate 9 from the work which shows a Brahmin funeral pyre with his wife committing suttee. The text reads:
"When one of the Brahmin dies, his friends dig his grave, filling it with sandalwood and fragrant herbs, rice, corn and other edibles. Using oil to assist the fire, they throw the body in to help the fire burn. Accompanied by much music, the widow arrives and is enticed to follow her husband to be happy with him in the next world."
