The innkeeper of an engraving based on a drawing by Jan Piotr Norblin, is wearing a festive costume of a married Jewish woman: a binde on her head, a decorative white bonnet, an outer dress made of expensive material, a white apron and a breastplate, also known as a bedding. They were usually made of velvet, damask or brocade, and often decorated with an embroidery. The breastplate in the "centre is slightly protruding so that you can put your hands, or a scarf in" (K. Girtler, Opowiadania, Kraków 1971), and it was inserted into an apron or skirt to decorate and protect against the consequences of unexpected unbuttoning of a bra or blouse; for it was the commands of the female modesty that were the source of this custom.
The graphics are from the collection Zbiór rozmaitych stroiów polskich. Collection de Costumes polonais, a colourful panorama of traditional clothes of the inhabitants of different regions of Poland. The collection of 50 aquatints made according to Norblin's drawings by Philibert-Louis Debucourt (1755–1832) was published in Paris in 1817–1818. It was the last major work of the artist.
Jean-Pierre Norblin de la Gourdaine (1745–1830) came to Poland in 1774 with the family of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski to take up the position of a court painter and princes' children’s teacher of drawings. Norblin remained in the service of the Czartoryski family until the end of his stay in Poland. He returned to France in 1804. The over thirty years he spent in Poland were very fertile for his work. He painted oil paintings, and created hundreds of drawings and graphics documenting both everyday life (Targ koński w Warszawie, 1791) and portraying important historical events. These works, such as Konstytucja 3 Maja, were often created with an almost journalistic flair. In addition, he left hundreds of portraits of craftsmen and nobility, itinerant traders and shopkeepers, and many fascinating images of Polish Jews. The Polish Jewess from the collection of the POLIN Museum is undoubtedly one of them.
If you want to learn more about Norblin and his work, be sure to see the virtual exhibition of the National Library and the French Bibliotèque National: http://norblin.bn.org.pl/
A gift of Jerzy Halbersztadt
Renata Piątkowska
