Baskets for Sale!, plate 22 - Simon Guillain

A seventeenth-century etching by Simon Guillain depicting a street vendor carrying heavy baskets of goods, part of a series documenting Parisian life.

This etching by Simon Guillain, dated 1646, belongs to a series documenting the street vendors and common labourers of seventeenth-century Paris. The work captures a merchant burdened by oversized wicker baskets, which contain poultry and other goods. The figure is depicted in profile, his posture leaning forward to accommodate the weight of his wares. A small animal, likely a chicken, hangs from the side of his load, adding a sense of immediate, everyday reality to the composition.

In the background, a secondary figure, a woman in a simple head covering, observes the scene. The architectural elements are suggested with minimal lines, keeping the focus on the itinerant trader. Guillain employs a clear, descriptive etching technique, using varied hatching to define the texture of the woven baskets and the folds of the merchant's clothing. The composition is balanced, with the weight of the baskets providing a sense of gravity and movement.

Guillain, a sculptor and printmaker, produced these plates after drawings by Annibale Carracci. This specific series, often referred to as the 'Cris de Paris', provides a visual record of the social strata of the period. The print avoids idealisation, choosing instead to present the physical toll of manual labour. The lines are precise and economical, characteristic of the period's printmaking style, where clarity of form was prioritised over atmospheric effects. This print offers a glimpse into the urban life of the mid-seventeenth century, documenting the individuals who populated the city streets. The work is a fine example of the genre tradition, where the focus is on the mundane activities of the working class, rendered with technical skill and observational accuracy.