After Reinier Vinkeles, Amsterdam Street Scene with Horse Sleigh, 18th Century, Watercolor

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An original 18th-century watercolour painting – Attrib. Reinier Vinkeles, Amsterdam Street Scene with Horse Sleigh.This animated miniature street scene captures … Read more An original 18th-century watercolour painting – Attrib. Reinier Vinkeles, Amsterdam Street Scene with Horse Sleigh.This animated miniature street scene captures the bustling canal-side activity in 18th-century Amsterdam. Likely drawn around the 1760s by the Dutch painter and engraver Reinier Vinkeles (1741–1816), the view includes one of the distinctive horse-drawn sleighs (known as the ‘toeslede’ or ‘sleepkoets’) for which the city was known. Due to heavy taxes applied to wheeled vehicles, the wheel-less sleighs became a primary mode of urban public transit. The sleds were dragged across the cobblestone streets, with an oily cloth used to smooth the passage. The coachman walked alongside to guide the horse.Much activity is squeezed into this small composition; finely clad gentlemen and women converse, alongside children and a dog. Large carts, carriages and mail coaches arriving in the city were too large for the narrow streets and left at designated 'cart squares', with much business then carried out on foot. In 1790 the German traveller-scientist Georg Forster visited Amsterdam and commented: 'in Amsterdam there are neighbourhoods where one can only painstakingly move through the swarming in narrow small streets. The whole day long, a continuous thunderous roaring dominates.'In grey wash with red chalk on laid paper. The miniature sheet has been mounted onto cream card with wash- and gilt-line and window cut verso. Dimensions: Height: 6.9cm (2.72") Width: 14.6cm (5.75")Presented: Unframed.Medium: WatercolourAge: 18th-centurySigned: No.Inscribed: Inscribed indistinctly verso.Dated: --Condition: Some minor foxing as shown. The sheet is irregularly cut and has historical tape and marks to the verso. Please see photos for detail. See less