2-984-758 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Khoikhoi woman with infant, c.1675-c.1725. On her back she carries her child who suckles from the breast she has thrown over her shoulder, a well-known cliché in Western depictions of indigenous people. In her left hand she holds a dripping piece of intestine, alluding to the Khoikhoi habit of eating raw innards. This drawing has been copied from a print in Thomas Herbert's 'Some Yeares Travels into Africa and Asia the Great' (1634).