Wendish Women in House and Festival Dress with a Paranymph and a Bride, 1842

This original antique lithograph, colored by hand, comes from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). In the upper image three women talk together at left: one in a white blouse, dark bodice and white apron, one in a red cap, a yellow kerchief patterned in red and a pink striped skirt, and one in a yellow bonnet, a purple jacket trimmed with fur and a white apron over a dark skirt. At right stands a man in a long green coat, pink waistcoat and white stockings, a bouquet at his chest and a white embroidered cloth hanging at his side, holding a hat dressed with flowers and red ribbons and a tasseled staff. The lower image shows four women: one seen from behind in a fur cap with a rolled cloth under her arm, one in a tall white cap and wide white shawl with a red bow, one in a frilled cap, green bodice and yellow apron painted with red flowers, and at right one in a tall dark headdress with a pink kerchief and white skirt.

The top margin is lettered "Tav. 74" at left, "GERMANIA" in the center and "Tom. IV" at right. The upper captions read "Donne Vende vestite da casa" (Wendish women in house dress) and "Paraninfo" (Paranymph, the wedding attendant), and the lower ones "Donne Vende vestite da festa" (Wendish women in festival dress) and "Una Sposa" (A bride).

The Wends, also called Sorbs, are a Slavic people of Lusatia in eastern Germany who kept their own language and dress. A paraninfo was the man who arranged or attended a wedding on behalf of the couple.

Eight figures in green, yellow and red make this a cheerful choice for a wedding gift or a collection of German costume.

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