Nacolabsov, Roy dv Promontoire des Cannibales · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Nacolabsov, Roy dv Promontoire des Cannibales
Subject: Indigenous peoples – South America; Indigenous peoples – Kings and rulers; Headdresses; Featherwork; Indigenous weapons – South America; Jewelry
Period: 1550-1600;
Geographic: Guiana; South America; Paris; France
Description: Nacolabsou (Nacol-Absou) is shown in portrait from the waist up, with his torso angled slightly to his left and his gaze directed into the distance to his right. He wears a large headdress constructed mostly of layered feathers, with a tassel of several long feathers hanging from the peak of the headdress. He has three pointed face stones, one in each cheek and one in his chin. Nacol-Absou wears earrings and a beaded multi-strand necklace, but no clothing on his torso. He holds a spear in his right hand and points at the sharp tip of it with his left. Not much is known about Nacol-Absou or the Promontory of Cannibals (although it is suggested to be near the present-day Guianas in South America). Thevet describes him in derogatory terms as savage, beastly, and cruel. Thevet’s biography suggests that Nacol-Absou died in the attempt to capture a Spanish fort near a river.
Image Creator: Unknown (Engraver); Widow of Jacques Kerver (Printer); Guillaume Chaudière (Printer)
Type: StillImage; Copperplate engraving
Identifier: mta:23577
Language: fre
Source Name: Les Vrais Povtraits et Vies des Hommes illvstres Grecz, Latins, et Payens
Parent Collection: 1584 Paris; 1584 Paris
Image: mta_23577_OBJ.png
Collection: European Illustrations of Native Americans
Subject: Indigenous peoples – South America; Indigenous peoples – Kings and rulers; Headdresses; Featherwork; Indigenous weapons – South America; Jewelry

Media: mta_23577_OBJ.png