Country Man near Nuremberg in Red Waistcoat and Brown Coat, 1755, Jefferys 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered "Habit of a Country Man near Nuremberg in 1755." It is plate 174 from Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, published in London in 1757. The mustached countryman stands with his right hand on his chest and his left in his coat pocket. He wears a dark hat trimmed with green ribbons, a white collar, and a brown coat open over a red buttoned waistcoat with a green sash at the waist. His full dark gray breeches are gathered below the knee and tied with green ribbons, and he wears light blue stockings and black shoes with green bows.

The English title is engraved in script below the figure, with the French caption "Paysan aux Environs de Nuremberg." (Peasant from the country around Nuremberg) beneath it and the plate number 174 at lower right. No engraver or designer is named on the plate. The date in the English title is the date of the costume shown; the print itself was published in 1757. The date 1755 places this costume in Jefferys' own day.

Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, published the second volume of A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern from his premises in the Strand, London, in 1757. As the title page states, the figures follow the designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others. The book was bilingual, with the French title Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, and its plates pair an English title in script with a shorter French caption.

The plate works well framed on its own, or as part of a small group of regional costume prints in matching frames.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.