Burgher Woman and Daughter going to Church, Dutch Costume, 1811

An original antique hand colored engraving from Evert Maaskamp's Dutch costume series, published in Amsterdam in 1811, lettered in Dutch "Éene Burger Vrouw en Dochter; naar de Kerk gaande." and in French "Une Femme bourgeoise & sa Fille, allant à l'Eglise." The two women stand nearly back to back on bare sandy ground. The elder, in profile and walking to the right, wears a black bonnet over a white frilled cap, a black ruffled cape and a long rose pink skirt, and carries a red church book with gilt clasps and a furled green umbrella in white gloved hands. The daughter, behind her at the left, is turned the other way, toward the left, in a white gown and white lace shawl, a lace cap banded in yellow and yellow pointed shoes, holding a closed fan to her lips in a blue gloved hand.

The captions translate as "A burgher woman and daughter, going to church" and "A middle class woman and her daughter, going to church". Below the border at left is "J. Kuyper, direx." and at right "L. Portman, sculp." The single imprint line reads "Amsterdam, 1811. by E. Maaskamp, Kalverstraat en Dam No. 1."; this impression carries no London line.

The plate belongs to Evert Maaskamp's Afbeeldingen van de Kleedingen, Zeden en Gewoonten in Holland, published in Amsterdam with parallel Dutch and French captions and also offered in London through Colnaghi and Co., whose line appears on other plates though not on this one. The series records the dress, manners and customs of the northern Netherlands in numbered plates, each a small scene within a ruled border, and many of the captions are a line of dialogue spoken by one of the figures. J. Kuyper signs the plates as director, direx., and they were engraved by L. Portman and finished by hand in watercolor.

A single plate frames well on its own with the full caption showing, and a few plates from the series hung together make a coherent group of Dutch scenes.

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