Title: Antique Print of a Creole Lady Drinking Chocolate in Lima, Peru, c.1796
Description: An original antique copperplate engraving titled "Dama Criolla di Lima nel Perù" and "Dame Créole de Lima du Pérou", depicting a fashionable Creole lady from Lima, Peru. The engraving was published in Venice around 1796 as part of the celebrated costume work Raccolta di Disegni delle più Interessanti Vestimenta delle Diverse Nazioni by Giulio Ferrario.
The elegant composition portrays a Creole woman standing on a terrace while drinking chocolate from a traditional mancerina, the distinctive Spanish-American drinking vessel developed to prevent the spilling of hot chocolate. Beside her are a chocolate pot and serving vessel, emphasising the importance of chocolate in the social life of colonial Peru.
She is dressed in the refined fashion of the late eighteenth century, combining European influences with the distinctive elegance of colonial Lima. Her richly embroidered dress, lace shawl, elaborate jewellery and floral hair ornaments illustrate the wealth and sophistication of Creole society in the Viceroyalty of Peru.
During the eighteenth century Lima was one of the most prosperous and cosmopolitan cities in Spanish America. Costume prints such as this provided European audiences with fascinating illustrations of the fashions, customs and daily life of distant cultures and remain highly desirable today for their historical and decorative appeal.
The engraving was published by Giulio Ferrario (1767–1847), whose monumental costume series remains one of the most important illustrated records of world dress and customs produced during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
This is an original antique engraving printed in the eighteenth century. It is not a modern reproduction.
Maker: Giulio Ferrario
Publication: Raccolta di Disegni delle più Interessanti Vestimenta delle Diverse Nazioni
Title: Dama Criolla di Lima nel Perù / Dame Créole de Lima du Pérou
Place of publication: Venice
Date: circa 1796
Technique: Copperplate engraving
Origin: Italy
Condition: Good condition considering its age. General age-related toning, occasional foxing, and minor handling wear. Please study the image carefully.
The framed and interior visuals are provided for imagination and presentation purposes only. The original antique print is sold unframed.
Keywords: Peru, Lima, Creole lady, Dame Créole, Dama Criolla, Viceroyalty of Peru, colonial Peru, chocolate, mancerina, costume print, fashion history, colonial costume, Giulio Ferrario, Venice, Italy, original antique print, copperplate engraving, eighteenth century, 1796, South America, Latin America, ethnographic print, historical costume, decorative engraving, women's fashion.
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