Women of Chios and Paros with a Spinning Wheel, Hand Colored, 1842

An original antique lithograph, hand colored, from the Galleria Universale di Tutti i Popoli del Mondo (Venice, Giuseppe Antonelli, 1842). The upper image shows two women on a grassy hillside: on the left one seen from behind in a tall green cylindrical hat, white sleeves and a layered blue gray tunic over a blue skirt, pointing down with her right hand; on the right one in a pink pointed cap, a loose green smock and a yellow skirt, carrying a dark jug in her right hand and pointing with her left. The lower image shows two women before a stone wall with an arch and a hanging plant: on the left a woman in a white head cloth, green jacket and gray dress with pink stockings sits at a wooden spinning wheel, drawing out the thread; on the right a woman in a white veil, green apron and pink skirt stands winding yarn from a ball lying on the ground.

The top margin is lettered "Tav 149", "GRECIA" and "Tom IV". Under the upper image: "Donne dell'Isola di Scio" (Women of the island of Chios). Under the lower image: "Donne dell'Isola di Paros" (Women of the island of Paros).

Scio is the old Italian name for Chios, a large island in the eastern Aegean close to the coast of Asia Minor. Paros lies in the Cyclades and was known since antiquity for its fine white marble. Spinning and winding yarn at home were ordinary daily work for island women.

The soft greens and pinks give this plate a calm, domestic character.

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