An 18th-century Dutch etching by Jan Caspar Philips depicting agricultural practices at the Cape of Good Hope.

This etching, titled De Wyze van Landbouwen aande Kaap, is an example of 18th-century European ethnographic and topographical illustration. Created by the Dutch artist Jan Caspar Philips, the work appeared in François Valentijn’s publication, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën, which documented various regions under the influence of the Dutch East India Company. The print depicts a Khoikhoi individual engaged in agricultural labour, accompanied by oxen and traditional farming implements.

Philips employs a precise, linear technique characteristic of the period's copperplate engravings. The composition is structured with a foreground featuring the central figure and his tools, while the middle ground shows a wider view of the field and a team of oxen. The background provides a schematic representation of the Cape terrain, complete with rolling hills and a distant horizon. The artist uses cross-hatching and varied line weights to define the textures of the foliage, the musculature of the animals, and the atmospheric quality of the sky.

As a historical document, the print reflects the European perspective on colonial expansion and the documentation of indigenous practices in Southern Africa during the early 18th century. The inclusion of the title at the base, De Wyze van Landbouwen aande Kaap, confirms its function as an illustrative plate intended to inform a European readership about life at the Cape of Good Hope. The work remains a record of both the technical capabilities of Dutch printmakers of the era and the specific, often filtered, visual narratives produced regarding non-European societies. The print is preserved in several institutional collections, including the Rijksmuseum, where it serves as a reference for the visual history of colonial-era South Africa.