Hottentots

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Print depicting a group of 'Hottentots' or Khoikhoi by Charles Davidson Bell. It illustrated Bell's fears regarding the potential dangers of unguided western imperialism. The man i s drinking, the woman has cigarettes, while the woman behind brandishes a blunt instrument. All are dressed in Western clothes. Charles Davidson Bell sketched a number of ethnographic studies of the different non-European South Africans he found while living there, some not long after he arrived in 1830, others while on an expedition into the Interior with Dr Andrew Smith in 1834 and more still on his return to Scotland sometime later. The sketches were heavily laden with the colonialists' views and opinions on each ethnic group. 'Malays' were seen as elegant and graceful; 'Hottentots' (Khoikhoi) as uncouth; 'Kaffirs' (Xhosa) as warriors.Charles Davidson BellOriginal size: 397 mm x 271 mm Show more