On the Road to Den Bosch, Brabant Costume Print, Maaskamp, 1811

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, plate No. 16 of Maaskamp's series on Dutch dress and customs, captioned in Dutch "Geluk Deerske! gaude ook op den Bosch?" A young man and a girl walk along a grassy road past a wooden signpost, one arm lettered BOIS LE DUC and 's BOSCH, the other, partly hidden behind his hat, TILBOURG and TILBORG. He points back toward the signpost and wears a broad brown hat, a rust brown coat, a green waistcoat, gray breeches and buckled shoes, with a stick over his shoulder from which a hare hangs and a satchel at his side. She wears a white cap, a coral red shawl checked in darker red, sleeves printed in bright colors, a dark blue apron over a red skirt and a striped underskirt, blue stockings and black shoes, and carries a large wicker basket on her arm.

The Dutch caption translates as "Good day, lass! are you going to Den Bosch too?" The French caption reads "Bon jour, Jolie Fille! vous allez aussi à Bois-le-duc?", that is, "Good day, pretty girl! are you also going to Bois-le-Duc?" Below the image the credits read "Amersfoort, ad viv. del." at lower left, "J. Kuÿper, direx." in the center and "L. Portman, sculp." at lower right, naming Amersfoort 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.