Watercolour of a Tatar from Kazan, 1776

This watercolour by Christoph Melchior Roth (c. 1720–1798) of Nuremberg depicts a Tatar man in traditional costume from the by now Russian city of Kazan. Dressed in flowing red robes with a yellow belt and blue coat, his right hand is resting on the hilt of a sword worn beneath his coat. Roth and his brother set up as portrait and map engravers in St Petersburg in the 1760s. This illustration is taken from their work on the costumes of the peoples of the Russian empire, published with 95 illustrations and text in Russian, German and French.

Christoph Melchior Roth (c. 1720–1798), Tatar from Kazan, 1776, watercolour on paper; source: The image is used from www.hermitagemuseum.org, courtesy of The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia, https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/04.+engraving/2637028.