122 prints in various states of 56 etchings, including her long considered unknown portrait

Christina Chalon (1749–1808); Jan Chalon (?-1795); Pieter de Mare (1757–1796), etchings after Christina Chalon.

A collection of 122 etchings after drawings by Christina Chalon and her portrait by her brother Jan, including numerous proofs and impressions in successive states.

Leiden, ca. 1779–1796.

122 prints on laid paper, various sizes, recently mounted in 47 uniform window mounts, each measuring 35 × 25 cm.

               An exceptional collection of 122 impressions from 56 etched plates, documenting the transformation of Christina Chalon’s drawings into printed images—from first proof to signed state.

Also included is an impression of the only known portrait of Christina Chalon, etched by her brother Jan. Recent scholarship has repeatedly stated that no portrait of the artist was known, but the present example therefore corrects this persistent claim, as well as an impression in the Rijksmuseum.

Chalon developed a distinctive visual language centred on lively and closely observed scenes of ordinary life: mothers and children, peasants, tradespeople, old men and women, children at play and modest domestic interiors. Her designs were taken up by several male printmakers active in Leiden, including Pieter de Mare, J.C. Janson, Nicolaas van der Worm and Pieter Kikkert, all of whom produced prints after her drawings. Kikkert explicitly acknowledged the Zinspelende gedigjes as an inspiration for his own work. Chalon was therefore not merely a woman whose drawings were reproduced by men: her subjects, compositions and manner of observation exerted a demonstrable influence on printmaking in Leiden.

The particular importance of the collection lies in its extensive representation of different states. The successive impressions range from lightly etched outlines to fully worked and signed states, showing how figures, backgrounds, hatching, shadows and other details were gradually added to the plates. In many sequences, only the final state bears the signature of Pieter de Mare. The repeated impressions are therefore not duplicates, but together constitute a remarkable visual record of his working process.

In 1779 Abraham Delfos commissioned De Mare to etch 32 drawings by Chalon from the collection of Hendrik A. Dibbets. The resulting prints were published in Leiden as Tweeëndertig stuks studien of ordonnantien naar de origineele tekeningen van juffrouwe Christina Chalon. Later that year Johannes le Francq van Berkhey supplied accompanying poems for the Zinspelende gedigjes. Comprising impressions from 56 plates, the present collection extends considerably beyond the canonical series of 32. Comparable proofs and unpublished states in the Rijksmuseum suggest that a larger continuation may have been planned; alternatively, some plates may have been rejected from the published series or intended for a separate project. Further research is required to establish their precise relationship to the published series.

Chalon’s final years were tragic. From around 1799 she suffered from serious mental illness. After several years of care at home, she was admitted in 1808 to Nieuwenburg near Hazerswoude, a private “improvement house” that accommodated the mentally ill. She died there on 18 December of that year, aged 59.

Further reading:

Buijnsters-Smets, L. “Christina Chalon, een achttiende-eeuwse tekenares.” Antiek, vol. 16, 1982, pp. 471–480. (added as a loose copy to this collection).

J. van Mierlo, '"'t vindingrijk Chalonnetje". Het leven en werk van de tekenares Christina Chalon (1749-1808)', in: E. Kloek, C. Peters-Sengers en E. Tobé, Vrouwen en kunst in de Republiek, een overzicht, Hilversum 1998, p. 123-175

De Haas, Anna. “Chalon, Christina (1749–1808).” Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland, Huygens Instituut, last modified 13 Jan. 2014. Accessed 19 Aug. 2026.