Herdsman of Fribourg, Zurich Peasants and Women of Zug and Neuchatel, 1842

This original antique lithograph, colored by hand, comes from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). In the upper image a mountain herdsman walks in from the left with a tall wooden tub strapped to his back and a wooden pail in his hand, in a blue cap, white shirt and brown waistcoat; beside a wooden stile a young woman with long braids, puffed white sleeves, a dark bodice, a blue skirt and a striped apron faces a man in a tricorne, brown waistcoat, full yellow breeches and white stockings who leans on a staff. In the lower image two women sit by a lake ringed with mountains: at left a boatwoman in a broad checked hat trimmed with flowers and a striped skirt sits on the gunwale of a boat with a sail and oar, and at right a woman in a yellow bonnet, pink apron and blue skirt holds a pink cloth on her lap.

The top margin is lettered "Tom. IV" at left, "SVIZZERA" in the center and "Tav. 58" at right. The upper captions read "Pastore montano di Friburgo" (Mountain herdsman of Fribourg) and "Contadini di Zurigo" (Peasants of Zurich), and the lower ones "Barcajuola di Zug" (Boatwoman of Zug) and "Donna di Neufchatel" (Woman of Neuchatel).

Fribourg, Zurich, Zug and Neuchatel are Swiss cantons and towns, Zug on its lake in central Switzerland and Neuchatel on its lake in the west. Each canton had its own festive and working dress, and costume plates of this kind recorded them with their landscapes.

The lake and mountain backgrounds make this a bright plate for anyone with a link to Switzerland.

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