Allerlei 1869 - 1882

This print, titled Allerlei, was made by Gerhardus Philippus Zalsman in the Netherlands, likely in the late 19th century. The title, meaning "miscellany," suggests a collection of various images, and that's exactly what we see. But what unifies this collection of images? What are we to make of the juxtaposition of a dog, a Christmas tree, an image of a black man labeled "De Kaffer" and an indigenous man labeled "De Indiaan?" These aren't innocent images: they are loaded with colonial ideas about race, class, and even the natural world. The inclusion of images of foreign people tells us that Dutch culture was deeply engaged with the wider world. But the way that they are rendered tells us of the racial prejudices at the heart of Dutch society and its institutions at this time. Historians use a range of sources, from trade statistics to missionary journals, to better understand the cultural context of images like this one. By understanding the history of the society that produced this image, we can begin to understand the values that it reflects.