Habit of a Russian Boor that Sells Live Fish in 1765

by Thomas Jefferys

The image below is an illustration made by Thomas Jefferys in 1765, capturing the tough spirit of a Russian "boor" — a word used back then to describe peasants or commoners selling goods on the streets. In his traditional fur clothes and ushanka, the trader shows the determination necessary to sell live goods under harsh conditions.

As the Geographer to King George III, Jefferys portrays the merchant's distinctive tools: the small wooden boxes, along with the peculiar carrying yokes, allowing them to carry freshly caught fish from the river. This engraving is ethnographically significant, combining the enlightenment era's interest in exotic peoples and their ways of living with real-life practices of 18th-century Russia.