Guelders Farmer and Wife from Milking, Dutch Costume Print, 1811

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, plate No. 12 of Maaskamp's series on Dutch dress and customs, captioned in Dutch "Een Geldersche Boer en eene Boerin, van't melken komende." A young farmer and his wife walk side by side across open ground. She wears a broad blue hat tied with blue ribbons over a lace cap, a white kerchief sprigged in red, jacket sleeves printed with flowers, a white apron checked in blue and a skirt striped in red, blue, yellow and green, with a yellow milk yoke or pail on her back. He wears a brown felt hat, a red checked neckerchief, a long blue coat over a gray blue waistcoat and breeches, striped stockings and buckled shoes, and carries a polished brass milk pail by its handle.

The Dutch caption translates as "A Guelders farmer and his wife, coming from milking." The French caption reads "Un Paysan et une Paysanne de la Gueldre, revenant de traire les vaches.", that is, "A peasant man and woman of Guelders, returning from milking the cows." Below the image the credits read "D. v. Oosterhoudt, ad viv. del." at lower left, "J. Kuyper, direx." in the center and "L. Portman, sculp." at lower right, naming D. van Oosterhoudt as the draughtsman working from life, J. Kuyper as the artistic director and L. Portman as the engraver. The imprint reads "Amsterdam 1811. bij 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.