Habit of a Russian Merchant in 1577

by Thomas Jefferys

The above image from 1577 depicts the unique profile of the Russian Merchant that lived under the rule of Ivan the Terrible. It is an embodiment of luxurious practicality, as it wears a Russian kaftan – a long-sleeved robe with ties around the waist, which would enable the wearer to cope with the extreme cold climate of Eurasia.

The prominence of the merchant is reflected in the extensive fur-trimmed attire as well as in the high-crowned headgear that denotes the growing prosperity of the mercantile community of Russia who started making trade talks with Elizabethan England. This piece acts as an indispensable ethnographical evidence of an era when the "East" was beginning to encounter the "West" in the icy port town of Arkhangelsk.