Congratulating the Bride, Dutch Costume Print, Maaskamp, 1811

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, plate No. 19 of Maaskamp's series on Dutch dress and customs, captioned in Dutch "Veel geluk en Zegen met uw voornemen, Bruid!" Two young women stand clasping hands. The left, facing us, wears a tall white pointed cap banded in red and trimmed with gray lace, a gold and blue embroidered bodice open over a red stomacher, white puffed sleeves over purple undersleeves, a long white apron edged with lace and a blue skirt hemmed in red. The right, turned toward her, wears a tall white pointed cap with a red band, a brown jacket with a white shawl collar, and an ochre apron over a dark blue skirt.

The Dutch caption translates as "Much happiness and blessing on your intention, bride!" The French caption reads "Belle Fiancée! toutes Sortes de Prospérité.", that is, "Lovely bride to be! every kind of prosperity." Below the image the credits read "J.W. Caspari, delin." at lower left, "J. Kuÿper, direx." in the center and "L. Portman, sculp." at lower right, naming J.W. Caspari 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. Cockspurstreet 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.