A young elegant woman and a maid shopping at the fishermen's wives on Gammel Strand, Copenhagen, in cloudy weather. C. 1920. Signed Paul Fischer. Oil on canvas. 57×74 cm.

A young elegant woman and a maid shopping at the fishermen's wives on Gammel Strand, Copenhagen, in cloudy weather. C. 1920. Signed Paul Fischer. Oil on canvas. 57×74 cm. The Fishermen's wives on Gammel Strand is a classic Paul Fischer motif that has also been frequently used by other Danish painters. The motif's popularity is undoubtedly due to the fact that the sharp-tongued fisherwomen at their locations in the heart of the city have been known to Copenhageners for centuries. In his childhood memoirs, the philologist, Professor N.C.L. Abrahams (1798–1870), recounts the conditions on Gammel Strand around the year 1800 (in Danish): “The fishermen's wives were very noisy and unruly. To keep these Amazons under control, a pole was erected on the sidewalk by the canal, from which hung a neck iron on a chain; this was the so-called pillory and a couple of times we had the tragicomic sight of seeing one of these unruly ladies parading with the iron around her neck, with a guard on each side, and surrounded by a swarm of shouting and cheering boys.” (“København før og nu - og aldrig”, vol. 3, 1988, p. 369). In this painting, the fishermen's wives appear to be quite peaceful. Sitting on their wooden stools in their characteristic costumes with white headdresses, they are ready to hand out fish to interested customers, here including an elegant young lady in a black coat and a young maid in a blue dress and white apron.