Well Pernelle, a Man with a Spade and a Young Woman, Dutch Costume Print, 1811

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, plate No. 15 of Maaskamp's series on Dutch dress and customs, captioned in Dutch "Wel Pernelle! goÿje soo uit speelen?" A young man leans on a long handled spade in front of a green painted railing that ends in a stone gate post at the right, smoking a white clay pipe. He wears a broad black hat, a purple neckerchief, a yellow waistcoat printed with red flowers, a brown coat, silver clasps at the waist, gray breeches with silver knee buckles, white stockings and buckled shoes. The young woman beside him wears a straw hat tied with a blue ribbon over a lace cap, a white bodice printed with small flowers, a black stomacher crossed with ribbons, long white mitts, a full red checked skirt, and a silver chain at her waist hung with a sheath.

The Dutch caption translates as "Well, Pernelle! are you going out to play like that?" The French caption reads "Comment, Voisine! vous allez ainsi vous divertir?", that is, "What, neighbor! you are going out like this to enjoy yourself?" Below the image the credits read "Pd. Koning B.z. ad viv. del." at lower left, "J. Kuÿper, direx." in the center and "L. Portman, sculp." at lower right, naming Pd. Koning B.z. 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.