Antique Print of a Woman from Tapada De Saya, Lima, Peru, South America, 1850

A veiled woman of Lima in the traditional costume known as the tapada de saya, an original steel engraving with hand color, from the French costume series Costumes Modernes (Musee de Costumes), published in Paris by the Ancienne Maison Aubert about 1850. The plate is lettered "Tapada de Saya" with "(Lima)" beneath.

The figure is shown standing full length on a lightly shaded ground. She wears the tight, black saya skirt and a matching manto drawn over her head and across the face so that only one eye shows. A pink and cream plaid shawl with long fringe falls over her arm and the skirt, and she carries a small handkerchief in one hand. The color is confined to the plaid and the sleeves, which makes the black of the veil and skirt stand out.

The tapadas of Lima, who covered themselves in the saya and manto and went out unrecognized in the streets, were a well-known feature of the city and drew the attention of many travelers and costume artists of the nineteenth century.