Off to the Fair with Butter and Eggs, Dutch Costume Print, 1811

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, plate No. 13 of Maaskamp's series on Dutch dress and customs, captioned in Dutch dialect "Noe, Jekemine, als ji joe beuter en eÿers te mert gebrogt hebt, zullen wi te geeren Annetieliesses mert gaen houên." A countryman and a young woman meet on a rise of open ground. He smokes a short clay pipe and wears a black tricorn, a long dark brown coat over a blue gray waistcoat, dark breeches and stockings, and buckled shoes. She wears a broad straw hat tied with a mauve ribbon over a white cap, a blue checked kerchief, a pink and white striped jacket sprigged with small flowers, a blue skirt and a blue checked apron, lilac stockings and black shoes, and carries a wicker basket covered with a white cloth.

The Dutch caption translates as "Now, Jekemine, when you have brought your butter and eggs to market, we will go to the fair together." The French caption reads "Allons, Jacquette, quand tu auras porté ton beurre et tes Oeufs au marché, nous irons ensemble nous divertir à la foire.", that is, "Come, Jacquette, when you have taken your butter and your eggs to market, we will go and enjoy ourselves together at the fair." Below the image the credits read "D. de Keÿser, ad viv. del." at lower left, "J. Kuyper, direx." in the center and "L. Portman, sculp." at lower right, naming D. de Keÿser 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.