Schouwen Couple going to Zierikzee Market, Zeeland Print, 1811

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, plate No. 14 of Maaskamp's series on Dutch dress and customs, captioned in Dutch "Een Schouwze Boer en Boerin in afspraak om naar de markt te Zirikzee te gaan." A farmer seen from behind talks with his wife. He wears a gray cap and a gray jacket, tan breeches tied at the knee with striped ribbons, gray and white striped stockings and black shoes, carries a basket of greens and eggs, and holds up a forked wooden staff. She wears a straw bonnet lined with pink flowered stuff and edged in blue, a coral necklace, a blue checked kerchief, a tan jacket, a checked apron band, a blue apron over a purple and green plaid skirt, and rests her arm on a wicker basket covered with a white cloth. Pale blue hills lie low on the horizon.

The Dutch caption translates as "A farmer and his wife of Schouwen agreeing to go to the market at Zierikzee." The French caption reads "Un Paysan & une Paysanne de Schouwen, allant au marché de Zirczee.", that is, "A peasant man and woman of Schouwen, going to the market of Zierikzee." Below the image the credits read "A. Prince, ad viv. del." at lower left, "J. Kuÿper, direx." in the center and "L. Portman, sculp." at lower right, naming A. Prince 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.