A Woman of Ditmarsh in 1626

by Thomas Jefferys

The engraving opens up a window to the past in the sense that it carefully delineates the folk attire worn by a woman from the Dithmarschen region in the beginning of the 17th century. The image is not meant to represent the uniformity of fashion that prevailed in the courts of Europe, but rather the spirit of the "peasant republic"—a community famous for its fiercely independent attitude.

Through the folds in the heavy skirts, the placement of the headwear (which was usually indicative of marital and social status), and the sturdy posture characteristic of ethnographic portraiture of the time, Thomas Jefferys manages to convey the relationship between function and status. The image represents much more than a simple portrait—it is the ethnographic map of an entire culture.