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Robert Jacob Gordon

149 works

Featured

Hand-drawn 1777 map of the southern Cape showing coastline, rivers, mountain ranges and district names in ink.

Map of the Southern part of the Cape from St Helena Bay to the Great Fish River

1777

Long horizontal ink and wash map of a South African coastline with hatched hills, bays and labelled capes.

Map of the south coast of South Africa between Cape Agulhas and the Sundays River

1789

Drawing of a spotted hyena's head seen from below, with grey fur, large ears and dark muzzle, inside a thin ink border.

Crocuta crocuta (Spotted hyena), from below

1777

Pencil and watercolor drawing of a striped hyena standing in a rocky landscape with shrubs, dated 1777.

Proteles cristatus (probably) (Aardwolf)

1777

Pen and watercolour drawing of a cheetah standing in a grassy landscape with rocks and mountains, with Dutch caption below.

Acinonyx jubatus (Cheetah)

1777

Galerella pulverulenta or Herpestes pulverulentus (Cape gray mongoose)

1777

Watercolor drawing of a spotted Cape genet with a ringed tail beside a tree stump and shrubs, with a scale bar.

Genetta tigrina (Cape genet)

1777

Icotnyx striatus (Striped polecat or Zorille)

1773

Hand-coloured drawing of two meerkats, one walking and one upright, on sandy ground with plants and rocks.

Suricata suricatta (Meerkats)

1777

Hand-colored drawing of three meerkats standing upright on sandy ground, with a Dutch caption and scale bar below.

Suricata suricatta (Meerkats)

1773

Watercolor of a grey dormouse with a black-banded tail and dark eye patches standing on green ground, with Dutch caption.

Graphiurus ocularis (Spectacled dormouse)

1777

Watercolor of a kraal with thatched huts, armed men with spears, beaded figures, and a campfire before mountains.

The kraal of “Captain” Coba (or Kobé), a chief of the Gqunukhwebe

1777

Hand-coloured drawing of a standing woman in beaded necklaces and headwrap, with thatched huts in a green landscape behind he

Pusega, daughter of Coba (or Kobé), a chief of the Gqunukhwebe tribe

1777

Watercolour drawing of a standing man in a yellow helmet holding spears, with a leopard-skin shield and Dutch captions.

‘Captain’ Coba (or Kobé), a chief of the Gqunukhwebe tribe, wearing the grenadiers helmet given him by Robert Jacob G…

1777

Watercolor of a standing woman with a pipe and a child in beaded jewellery on grassy ground, by Robert Jacob Gordon, 1777.

A standing, probably Khoikhoi, woman, with tobacco-pipe and child

1777

Hand-colored drawing of a standing man holding a spear, wearing a leopard skin, beaded necklaces and brass bracelets.

Man, probably of the AmaXhosa, wearing a leopard skin and holding a spear

1777

Hand-coloured drawing of a standing man in a fur cloak and beaded ornaments, with domed huts and mountains behind him.

Ruiter, a Gonaqua captain

1778

Hand-coloured drawing of Namaqua chieftains and family in fur cloaks, beaded necklaces and headdresses, with spears and a bow

Chieftans of the Namaqualand region

1779

Hand-coloured drawing of a standing Khoisan man with a smoking pipe, spear, bow and quiver, beside thatched huts.

Karmoeb, Captain of the Namaqua Khoisan

1777

Watercolour of a standing woman in a fur cloak and beaded jewellery holding a child, with plants at her feet.

Khoikhoi or Gonaqua woman with a child at the breast

1777

Watercolour of a group in feathered headdresses and beadwork walking with an ox loaded with bundles and two children.

Nomadic tribe with their possessions laden on an ox

1777

Watercolor drawing of a standing man in a dark cloak, beaded necklaces and turban, with domed huts and a river behind him.

The Gonaqua chieftain, Ruiter

1778

Full-length painted figure of a woman with a feathered headband and beaded jewelry holding a whisk, with a small boy beside h

Khoikhoi or San woman with her little boy

1777

Watercolor of a standing man in a dark fur cloak and beaded belt, smoking a long pipe, with shrubs behind him.

Khoikhoi man smoking a pipe

1778

Hand-coloured drawing of seated men with spears watching a body wrapped in a hide on the ground, with a Dutch caption below.

Burial of a Khoikhoi man, with spectators

1777

Drawing of a standing woman with beaded jewelry and headdress holding a feather fan, with plants around her on grass.

Standing Khoikhoi woman

1777

Pen and wash drawing of a standing man holding an ox-horn pipe, wearing a hat, beads and a skin cloak.

Man of the Khoikhoi with an ox-horn pipe in his hand

1777

Watercolor of dancers and musicians in beaded costumes before dome-shaped huts, with cattle and mountains behind.

A Khoikhoi kraal with dancers and musicians

1779

Mellivora capensis (Honey-badger)

1773

Hand-coloured drawing of a giraffe beside a standing figure with spear and bow, with a measuring scale at left.

Giraffa camelopardalis (Giraffe)

1779

Watercolor of a blue-grey mole-rat with pale claws and pink nose on a green ground, with handwritten caption below.

Cryptomys hottentotus (Common mole-rat)

1778

Watercolor drawing of a springhare upright on grassy ground holding a green sprig, with handwritten notes below.

Pedetes cafer (South African springhare)

1778