The engravings offer a valuable glimpse into the traditional dress of the Mordvin people, an ethnic group from the region of Mordovia in Russia. The "Picturesque Representations of the Dress and Manners of the Russians" serves as an important historical document, giving insight into the regional variations in attire within Russia during the early 19th century.
The specific details:
- "A female Mordvine, shewing the back part of her dress" provides a rare perspective of the rear details of the costume, highlighting the intricate patterns and designs that might be overlooked from the front.
- "A Mordvine of the Mokshan tribe" depicts the attire of the Mokshan, one of the two major subgroups of the Mordvin people, showcasing the unique cultural attributes of their clothing.
- "An old Mordvine woman of the Mokshan tribe" gives us a view of the differences in dress based on age within the same ethnic group, potentially indicating variations in color, pattern, and ornamentation that denote social status or age.
These illustrations are not just artistic representations; they serve as ethnographic records, preserving the diversity of Russian cultural dress from a period when photography was not available to capture such details.
Bartele Gallery. Original antique maps, sea charts, engravings and works on paper. This is a plain text rendering of a page that is otherwise built in the browser. The catalogue index is at https://www.bartele.net/catalogue and machine readable notes are at https://www.bartele.net/llms.txt.