Young peasant woman in Pyrzyce costume

August Ludwig Most, a painter of genre scenes and a portraitist of the Biedermeier period, connected with Szczecin throughout his professional and personal life, was the author of paintings, sketches and drawings depicting the Pomeranian cultural landscape, including scenes from the lives of the inhabitants of the Pyrzyce region. One of them is an oil study of a young woman made following the preserved signature on 10 June 1836. The small picture is of excellent museum value. It is probably one of the oldest iconographic representations of the Pyrzyce costume. In the painting, whose uniform background is dark orange, the woman is set in the profile, with her head turned towards the viewer. She is young but already married, as indicated by the colour of her scarf and bonnet. A ruffled skirt with several layers, a corset with cuffs, a neckline filled with white pleated crepe, a richly embroidered and ornamented headscarf and a bonnet at the back decorated with a large bow with ribbons flowing down to the waist indicate that the woman is dressed in the festive attire. Particularly noteworthy is the muff, a unique detail in folk costumes. The black muff, probably made of rabbit fur, is decorated with a blue bow in the middle. Through the muff is threaded a red handkerchief, probably embroidered. Interestingly, the Pyrzyce women embroidered all their handkerchiefs using the flat, laid stitch; only the handkerchiefs threaded through the muffs were embroidered using the cross-stitch. Thanks to A.L. Most’s interests, we can research, describe and follow the changes taking place in the Pyrzyce folk costume. It is precious because authentic costumes have not survived. Only single elements have survived to our times. The paintings from the 1830s are irreplaceable, as they are almost the only source telling us about the appearance of the Pyrzyce costume at that time. It is much simpler, less impressive and less elaborate than the later versions known from more numerous publications and photographs.

Iwona Karwowska