About this sheet
Traditional Dutch Costume Print - Staphorst and Rouveen, circa 1930s
This richly colored vintage lithograph presents a striking portrayal of three Dutch women dressed in full Sunday costume from the villages of Staphorst and Rouveen in the province of Overijssel. The scene is based on Plate X from the limited edition folio 'The National Costumes of Holland', originally published in 1932 by Gratiane de Gardilanne and Elizabeth Whitney Moffatt. Only 500 copies were printed, intended for commercial and archival purposes, making each surviving plate increasingly rare.
The women are illustrated in traditional attire characterized by somber elegance and symbolic detail. Their bodies, seemingly elongated and rigid, reflect the historical custom where women walked in solemn procession from church, apart from their husbands, heads bent, their eyes lowered, and movements synchronized as if in a ritual. This stylized depiction underlines the spiritual and social discipline of the community.
Their garments include a black sateen cap with a peak called a toet, trimmed with satin ribbons and layered with a fine white net cap known locally as the toet muts. Each woman wears the oorrijzer, a wide silver headpiece enclosing the crown of the head with ornate spirals pressing forward onto the cheeks. Their underbodices, or borstrok, are made from thickly woven wool called vijfschaft, striped in blue and black from locally sourced sheep’s fleece. Over this is worn the kaskein, a black or brown damask jacket lined in blue cotton. A red-and-white checked fichu is fastened with vivid blue ribbons, and the aprons are of black cashmere, decorated with floral bands.
In their hands, the women carry large silver-clasped Bibles or the kesoatie, a smaller psalm-book brought to evening services during the colder months.
The tiled background in Delft blue, featuring zodiacal and pastoral scenes, further enhances the folkloric atmosphere, grounding the composition in Dutch decorative tradition.
This original lithograph is in very good condition, with only minimal age toning to the paper edges and no foxing or tears visible. The colors remain vibrant and the detail crisp. Slight binding holes along the edge shows it was once part of a bound folio, as expected.
Framing Advice:
To highlight the deep blacks and vivid reds and blues of the costume, consider mounting the print with a soft cream or warm white mat and framing it in natural oak or dark wood. UV-protective glass will preserve the clarity of the print, especially given its age and the richness of the original hand-coloring. Displaying it alongside other Dutch costume prints from the same series would create an evocative cultural tableau.
