Gold Works of Itacolumi, Brazil - Gold Washing

This engraving depicts a group of enslaved men and woman mining in Brazil near Ouro Preto. According to the accompanying text, "to the left a party of slaves is catching the gold dust by immersing fleeces in the running water; on the right, two other slaves are beating out the dust from a fleece into a large wooden dish placed on the ground to receive it; behind them a European is weighing the gold dust in scales, and men and women are seen bringing down pieces of quartz containing gold to be broken up by others" (p. 208).

Image Title

Gold Works of Itacolumi, Brazil - Gold Washing

RegID

SI-OB-897

Date

1855

Title

Gold Works of Itacolumi, Brazil - Gold Washing

Source

Anonymous, "Scenes in Brazil," in Ballou's Pictorial, vol. IX (Sep. 29, 1855), p. 208.

Language

French

Item sets

Miscellaneous Occupations & Economic Activities

Spatial Coverage

South America--Brazil--Minas Gerais

Reproduced In

Derived from Johann Moritz Rugendas and Marie Philippe Aimé de Golbéry, Voyage Pittoresque dans le Brésil (Paris: Engelmann & cie., 1835). A somewhat different version was captioned "Lavage de l'or, au Brésil," in Magasin Pittoresque (1841), p. 161.

Researchers

Jerome Handler; Michael Tuite; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May

Last Updated

2007; 29-Aug-19

Identifier

Ballou9-208