Scottish Highland Officers and Soldier with Icelandic and Danish Women, 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 three Highland soldiers before a mountain. The two officers at the left wear red coats faced with yellow, blue bonnets with diced bands and white plumes, tartan kilts, sporrans and red and white diced hose with red garters; one has a tartan plaid over his shoulder. At the right a soldier in a large brown feather bonnet and red coat holds an upright musket with a fixed bayonet, a sporran at his waist. The lower image shows four women and a child. At the left an Icelandic woman in a tall curved yellow headdress over a red band, a ruff and a long gray coat with gold ornaments holds the hand of a small child in green with a red hood. Next to her a second Icelandic woman wears a striped yellow headdress, a gray coat bordered in pink, a green dress and a pink skirt. At the right a Danish woman in a black fan shaped headdress and a fur lined black cloak stands with a younger woman in a yellow hat and blue dress.

The plate is lettered "Tom. IV" at the upper left, "INGHILTERRA" in the center and "Tav 87" at the upper right. The captions read "Officiali e Soldato Scozzesi" (Scottish officers and soldier), "Donne Islandesi" (Icelandic women) and "Donne Danesi" (Danish women).

Highland regiments of the British army wore the kilt, the feathered bonnet and diced hose. Iceland was then under Danish rule, which explains why the two peoples appear together.

The bright reds and tartans make this a strong plate for a study or a collection of Scottish subjects.

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