Portret van een onbekende man van de Aino before 1874

This is an anonymous portrait of an Ainu man, reproduced as a print in a book. The Ainu are an indigenous people of Japan and Russia. The image, found in a publication likely from the 19th century, reflects the burgeoning field of ethnography. The Ainu, with their distinct physical features and cultural practices, were often studied and portrayed by outsiders as a separate and sometimes "primitive" race. The "Ethnographie Kourillienne" title suggests an attempt to categorize and understand different groups within the Russian Empire. The image might have served to reinforce existing social hierarchies, particularly colonial attitudes. We must also consider the institutional context: the Rijksmuseum's acquisition of this print reflects an interest in documenting and classifying different cultures, a project often intertwined with colonial power dynamics. To understand this image fully, historians would consult ethnographic studies, colonial archives, and Ainu perspectives, providing a richer understanding of its historical and social context.