Portuguese Ox Cart and a Lady in a Palanquin, Hand Colored Lithograph, 1842

This is an original antique lithograph, hand colored, from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). The upper image shows a Portuguese ox cart on a country road. At the left a driver in a black tricorn hat, red jacket, yellow breeches and black gaiters holds a long goad beside a yoked pair of brown and white spotted oxen. The cart runs on a solid wooden disc wheel, and a young man in a white shirt stands on its bed beside a load of white bales, with trees behind. The lower image shows a lady traveling in an enclosed brown litter slung on poles between two mules. She looks out of its small window in a yellow headscarf and pink bodice. A rider in a red cap and blue jacket sits on the front mule playing a guitar, the rear mule carries baggage, and a dog lies on the road beside it.

The plate is lettered "Tom. IV" at the upper left, "PORTOGALLO" in the center and "Tav. 7" at the upper right. The caption under the upper image reads "Carretta portoghese" (Portuguese cart), and the caption under the lower image reads "Signora Portoghese nel Palanchino" (Portuguese lady in the palanquin).

Solid wheeled ox carts were long a familiar sight in rural Portugal, and the litter carried between two mules, one in front and one behind, was a common way to travel on roads unsuited to carriages.

The two scenes of travel make a lively pair, and the plate suits a study, a hallway or a collection of Iberian subjects.

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