Arkivism
Two labourers and two women labourers
Public domain

Two labourers and two women labourers

Esaias Boursse · 1662 · brush; paper; ink

From the collection of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

Outside, four figures are drawn. Two of them show African features. On the left stands a man in a foot-long hip cloth (veshti, lungi) and a second cloth (chadar) wrapped around his waist. His upper body is bare and he wears a headscarf on his head. Diagonally behind him crouches a woman. She wears a long wrap cloth (selai or sari) or wrap skirt (redda). The end of the cloth or a loose cloth (chadar) is draped over her head and shoulders, leaving her upper body and breasts partially uncovered. The man next to her wears, like the first man, a long hip cloth, a shoulder cloth around his waist, and a bare upper body; he has short curly hair. The woman on the far right wears a long South Indian wrap cloth (selai or sari), the end of which is draped forward over her right shoulder, covering her upper body and tucked around her waist. She has short curly hair. With her left hand she holds a worn basket. Sheet 94 from a sketchbook with 117 sheets.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam’s own description
Credit lineTwo labourers and two women labourers. 1662. Esaias Boursse. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public domain.

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