Optica print "Vue de la Ville de la Haye en Hollande", copper engraving published by Louis Joseph Mondhare in Paris 1760. Later hand-coloured. Measures approx. 24 x 41,5 cm. Winter scenes with a thick blanket of snow and frozen canals and rivers full of ice were always popular. The Old Masters loved to paint them and their popularity is reflected in the large numbers of prints made after their paintings and designs. Up until the 19th century, engravers drew on examples from before, including in France, Germany and England. Ice golf is a sport that has been played in the Low Countries since the Middle Ages. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the game of colf grew strongly in popularity. Usually, the game was played on everyday shoes amidst the other spectators present on the ice. Sometimes a colf stick with a weighted and widened lower end was used, no longer than our current golf club, or sometimes people stood on skates and the stick reached chest height and the upper end was covered with velvet or other material. Sometimes the aim was to hit the ball the furthest or to hit a pole. The score was written on the inside of the hat or carved on a twig with a knife. The ball was made of leather and filled with feathers. Price: Euro 750,-
