Sujet

The Serpent-Charmers at the Gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's-Park, 1850. Creator: Pearson.

Légende

The Serpent-Charmers at the Gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's-Park, [London], 1850. 'These remarkable persons...state that they are of the tribe called Rufaiah, who hand down the mystery of serpent-charming from father to son, and whom the most venomous species have no power to injure...the Rufaiah now in this country handle the Egyptian cobra - which they call taban nouascher - in a manner which evinces their entire fearlessness of its bite. They irritate it, soothe it, receive its open-mouthed attack, or its gentle caress, as their own caprice or the request of the spectators may suggest. The boy is the most active operator, and generally monopolises nearly the whole of the performance; the old man, Jabar Abou Haijab, occasionally supporting him. Jabar is held in Egypt to be the father of the profession...and has been conversant with snake- lore from his earliest youth'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.

Crédit

Photo12/Heritage Images/The Print Collector

Notre référence

HRM22A34_441

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

Licence

Droits gérés

Format disponible

65,8Mo (4,3Mo) / 39,2cm x 42,0cm / 4635 x 4960 (300dpi)

Mots clés

travel animal unusual people male boy boys child children work job man men country Egypt reptile reptiles snake snakes danger guy dangerous occupation British headdress Egyptian zoo london zoo Arab Arabs turban turbans location Victorian century snake charmer Britain profession newspapers press concept cobra cobras B&W tourist attraction headgear engraved engraving head-dress peril head dress 19th century black & white black and white B W Zoological Gardens nineteenth century sideshow tourism The Print Collector child labour Illustrated London News snake-charmer ILN newspaper Pearson Zoological Garden Mizraim Harrison Weir Weir Harrison 19th-century Harrison William Weir Weir Harrison William serpent-charming snake-charming