A Letter, Sweets and a Posy, Dutch Costume Print, Maaskamp, 1811

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, plate No. 18 of Maaskamp's series on Dutch dress and customs, captioned in Dutch "Lieve Marretje! zie hier een brief en trommeltje met zoetigheid, als ook een ruikertje voor U." A young woman sits on a green painted garden bench reading a letter, a posy of pink and blue flowers in her lap and a small green and brown box beside her. She wears a deep pink bonnet over a lace veil and gold head ornaments, a coral necklace, and a white gown under an orange red overdress printed with small leaves. Behind the bench stands the woman who brought the gifts, in a lilac gray hood over a white cap, a coral necklace and a jacket and skirt printed all over with multicolored flowers, her hand on the bench rail.

The Dutch caption translates as "Dear Marretje! here is a letter and a little tin of sweets, and a posy for you as well." The French caption reads "Chère Marie! voici un bouquet, avec une lettre et une boite toutés remplies de douceurs.", that is, "Dear Marie! here is a bouquet, with a letter and a box full of sweets." Below the image the credits read "C. Overman, delin." at lower left, "J. Kuÿper, direx." in the center and "L. Portman, sculp." at lower right, naming C. Overman as the draughtsman, J. Kuyper as the artistic director and L. Portman as the engraver. The imprint reads "Amsterdam, 1811. by E. Maaskamp, Kalverstraat en Dam. No. 1." with a second line, "London, Publish'd by Colnaghi & Co. Cockspur Street. No. 43.", naming the London print sellers Colnaghi and Co.

The plate belongs to Afbeeldingen van de Kleedingen, Zeden en Gewoonten in de Noordelijke Provinciën van het Koningrijk der Nederlanden, the survey of dress, manners and customs in the northern Netherlands published in Amsterdam by Evert Maaskamp, with a parallel French text. Each plate pairs its figures with a short exchange in Dutch, sometimes in regional dialect, and in French, so the costume studies also read as small genre scenes.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.