Italian Hand Colored Engraving by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein: Based on the Original Collection of Sir William Hamilton's Ancient Vases

A seated woman looks up while her companion, wrapped in a cloak, stands ready to speak.

This hand colored engraving, based on the original collection of Sir William Hamilton's ancient vases, is after Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, from Naples, Italy, around 1791, in ink on paper. Greek women on these vases usually wear a long pleated chiton under a heavier mantle, and painters took evident pleasure in the folds. Both figures here are dressed that way in orange against a black roundel, one seated on a low block, the other standing with her mantle gathered in her hands. A small wreath hangs in the air between them. The image is 4.74 inches wide and 4.75 high.

Small, round and full of good drapery.