Lithograph of Saami fishermen

Lithograph produced in Berlin by Hermann Delius showing a group of five Saami people, standing, one of whom carries a baby, with the old wooden church at Arvidsjaur depicted in the background, captioned ‘Lappische Fischer./ Im Hintergrund die Kirche von Arvidjaur’.

Lithographer: Hermann Delius
Date of publication: 1841
Continent: Europe
Geographical area: Northern Europe
Country: Sweden | Germany
Region/Place: Arvidsjaur
Cultural group: European Saami
Format: Lithograph
Size: 273 x 344 mm
Acquisition: Joan Evans. Donated August 1941

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Exhibition label: ‘One of four lithographs produced in Berlin by Hermann Delius. They are from a series of seventeen prints collected by Arthur Evans, perhaps when he was studying in Göttingen, and here show scenes of daily life among the Saami of Swedish Lapland. Especially notable is the view of Lycksele, the oldest Saami settlement in Sweden; and a depiction of men fishing by torch-light on the waters of Stor Afvan, a practice witnessed by Evans who described the people as “getting at most from two to three hours sleep”. Source: ‘Travels in Finland and Bosnia-Herzegovina: An Ethnographic Collection of Sir Arthur Evans’, exhibition curated by Philip Grover, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, 29 April to 1 September 2013.

Primary documentation: ‘[p.588] Dr. JOAN EVANS, from the property of the late SIR ARTHUR EVANS, Youlbury, Boars Hill, Oxford. [List of items follows]’; ‘[p.590] 17 prints, Lapps & scenery. (Lith. Anst. v. H. Delius in Berlin)’: Pitt Rivers Museum accession records (Donations X, 1937–1941), pp.588, 590. Notes on print: ‘Lappische Fischer./ Im Hintergrund die Kirche von Arvidjaur’ (caption printed below image); ‘7’ (printed above image); ‘Lith. Anst. v. H. Delius, in Berlin’ (printed below image, identifying the maker as lithographer Hermann Delius).

Research notes: It has been established by Philip Grover that this lithograph was one of twenty published to accompany a book by Daniel von Hogguér, Reise nach Lappland und dem nördlichen Schweden (Berlin, 1841), an account of a journey to the Pite River valley (historically Piteå Lappmark) made by the author in 1828.