Duchess of Orléans in 1700 with a Fan, Hand Colored Jefferys Engraving, 1757

An original antique print, a copper engraving colored by hand, lettered "Habit of the Dutchess of Orleans, in 1700." A woman with her hair dressed high under a tall lace headdress stands facing the viewer, a pearl necklace and a jeweled cross at her throat. Her blue gown, with lace frills at the elbows, is looped back and lined in bright green, falling into a long train at the viewer's left. The front shows a pink skirt with gold arched trimming set with jewels, above a broad band of pale embroidered lace and a deep pink hem. She lifts one gloved hand to her breast and holds a closed fan in the other.

Two lines of lettering run below the figure. The English title, in a flowing script, reads "Habit of the Dutchess of Orleans, in 1700." The French caption beneath it reads "Dutchesse d' Orleans.", meaning "Duchess of Orleans", and the number 131 is engraved at lower right. The old spellings "Dutchess" and "Dutchesse" are engraved with the long s, given here as a plain s. The plate carries no engraver or designer credit.

This is a plate from Volume II of A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern, published in London in 1757 by Thomas Jefferys in the Strand. Its title page announces the figures as taken "After the Designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar, and others," and the book was also titled in French, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations. It falls among the French figures of the volume. In 1700 the title belonged to Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, wife of Philippe, Duke of Orléans, the brother of Louis XIV. The year in the English title is the date of the costume shown, not of the print, which was published in 1757.

Framed with a generous mat, it makes a crisp accent for a dressing room, a study or a hallway.

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