Deutsch Lot n° 6205

18th century. The northern hemisphere with travellers. 2 drawings, gouache on wove paper (papier vélin). 56.7 x 72.7 cm; 56.4 x 73.5 cm. With names of individual countries. The two sheets show representations of individual countries of the northern hemisphere, each with a few representative figures in the costumes typical of the country. Staged like a stage, the semi-circular world segments are covered by a basket arch arcade resting on double columns. It is conceivable that these are preliminary studies for the painting of a private studio, a book cabinet, a trade office, etc., whose walls were to be equipped with supraports. As usual, the four continents and their inhabitants were presented in a representative manner. Of the presumably four supraports planned, Europe is shown here with the countries "England", "France", "I(Italy)", "Germany", "Holland", "U(ngarn)" and "Turkey" - although geographically interpreted very freely. The Europeans are depicted in frocks, boots, with hats and walking sticks, a priest is wearing a robe, in Holland there is a water mill, in the east there are turban-wearing Turks with long water pipes, in the background a mosque. This is followed by the panel for the wall on the right. Here a view of Asia unfolds from Western Europe with "Pohlen" and "Rusland" to "China", enlivened by wild riding carriages, Tartars in fur caps and Chinese braid wearers in colourful robes, smoking the typical opium pipes. The next supraport to the right would then be America, which appears on the Asia panel on the right-hand edge of the picture on the other side of the North Pacific indicated. There stands a native with a field axe and dead hare as representative of the Indian as field farmer and hunter. In these sheets, geographical accuracy takes a back seat to conveying the idea of nations and their inhabitants. While the Germans, for example, rest under lush trees in the manner of depictions of Cockaigne, a stately ship sinks off the coa