Drawings of the common people of Vienna

The “Große Kaufruf” (great sales calls) series based on drawings by Johann Christian Brand (1722-1795), which from 1775 was published as one of the first works of the new copper engraving school at the Viennese Academy of the Arts, placed the “common people of Vienna” at the forefront of a graphic series for the first time. The depictions of traveling merchants, artisans, and market vendors, were also labeled, in part, with the “Kaufruf” or typical sales call specific to each trade, with which they touted their products. The engravings founded a special genre of typifying depictions.