Women of Agen, Marseille and Montauban with Shepherds of the Vosges, 1842

This original antique lithograph, hand colored, is from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). The upper image shows three women at a stone fountain topped by an urn. At left a woman in a yellow headscarf, pink bodice and green skirt carries fruit in her gathered apron; in the center a woman in a broad black hat, dark bodice and bright red skirt fills a brown jug at the spout; at right a woman in a hooded checked headdress, yellow collar and striped apron holds a metal jug. The lower image shows three figures under a tree: a man in a red jacket and white hood sits by a basket with a gun propped behind him, a woman in a white winged cap turns a large wheel on a wooden stand, and a man in a red suit and hood leans on a long gun and holds up a horn, with a jug standing beside the gun.

The top margin is lettered "Tav 27" (in italic), "FRANCIA" and "Tom IV". The upper caption reads "Donna di Agen. Fantesca forese di Marsiglia. Donna di Montaubon" (Woman of Agen. Country maidservant of Marseille. Woman of Montauban), and the lower "Pastori di Wasgau" (Shepherds of the Wasgau).

Agen and Montauban are towns of southwestern France, and Marseille is the great port of Provence. Wasgau is an old German name for the Vosges, the mountain range of eastern France.

The strong reds and the lively fountain scene make this an attractive choice for a collection of French regional costume.

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