Several prints dating from the early nineteenth century illustrate the sensation generated by the spectacle of "The Hottentot Venus."  A French print entitled "La Belle Hottentot," for example, depicts the Khosian woman standing with her buttocks exposed on a box-like pedestal.  Several figures bend straining for a better look, while a male figure at the far right of the image even holds his seeing-eye glass up to better behold the woman's body.  The European observers remark on the woman's body: "Oh! God Damn what roast beef!" and "Ah! how comical is nature."

Back to the Human Exhibition page.