The Promenade, Two Young Women, Dutch Costume Print, 1811

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, plate No. 17 of Maaskamp's series on Dutch dress and customs, captioned in Dutch "De Wandeling." Two young women walk arm in arm on plain ground. Both wear deep bonnets over lace veils, with gold head ornaments showing at the temples, and coral necklaces. The left wears a blue bonnet, a slate lilac high waisted gown and a coral red shawl with flowered and fringed ends, and holds a green fan; she wears yellow slippers. The right wears a deep pink bonnet trimmed with white plumes, a pink ribbon and a rose at the breast, and a white high waisted gown with a pale blue sash, lifted to show a rose pink underskirt.

The Dutch caption translates as "The Walk." The French caption reads "La Promenade.", that is, "The Promenade." Below the image the credits read "C. Overman, delin." at lower left, "J. Kuÿper, direx." in the center and "L. Portman, sculp." at lower right, naming C. Overman as the draughtsman, J. Kuyper as the artistic director and L. Portman as the engraver. The imprint reads "Amsterdam 1811. by 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.