A Khoikhoi girl from Korah tribe holding a jar ('Korah Girl'), 1820

Samuel Daniell (1775 - 1811)

RA Collection: Art

This title or caption of this object contains language that is upsetting and offensive. We have kept the original wording – given by the artist or creator – to preserve its historical significance and, where possible, we have tried to provide additional information to contextualise the object’s content, production and meaning in the society in which it was created.

We continuously work to improve the documentation and presentation of our online Collections. If you have any comments or additional information about this – or another – object, please contact us at library@royalacademy.org.uk.

This image depicts a Khoikhoi (or Khoekhoe) girl from the Korah tribe; the Khoekhoen are a non-Bantu speaking indigenous nomadic group located in modern-day South Africa. The girl holds a vessel for fetching water made of willow wood, from trees that grew along the banks of the Gareep or Orange River in the region.

This etching is an illustration from a book titled Sketches representing the Native Tribes, Animals and Scenery of Southern Africa (1820), originally drawn by Samuel Daniell and published posthumously by his brother William Daniell RA. The book was part of a British colonial tradition of ethnographic research and demonstrates deep inherent racial prejudice, seeking to categorise indigenous groups into a Western-imposed knowledge structure. Samuel Daniell based this drawing on his encounters with indigenous people when he travelled to South Africa between 1799 and 1802. This expedition was only possible due to colonisation of the land and peoples by Dutch and British forces.