Una Pendencia

This original antique lithograph forms part of the series “Costumbres Andaluzas”, created by the Cádiz-born draughtsman Antonio Chamán between 1852 and 1854. Chamán, who developed part of his career in Málaga capturing popular types and urban views, poured into this collection printed by Carlos Santigosa in Seville a profound vision of Andalusian social reality through the prism of Romanticism.

The series was conceived at a crucial moment for Spanish culture: the birth of flamenco dance in the Seville academies. It is the period of the “transcendental fusion” between the Andalusian bolero dances and the gypsy dances, where figures such as “La Campanera” or “El Tío Abejorro” shared the bill. Alongside the scenes of dance and popular trades —such as fritter-sellers or shearers—, Chamán included prints that completed the Romantic imagery of the period: portraits of bullfighters, horsemen and, as in this piece, quarrels and duels, which reflected the passionate and dramatic character attributed to 19th-century Andalusian society.

In this original 1854 piece, Chamán’s mastery in drawing is joined to the technical quality of Santigosa’s lithography. The brawl scene stands out for its realism and tension, documenting not only the attire of the period but also the spaces of popular sociability —such as inns and taverns— that served as a setting both for dance and for conflict. It is a fundamental work for understanding the costumbrista iconography and the social context where flamenco art began to become professionalised.