Duchess of Portsmouth in Undress, Seated with Fan, Jefferys Costume Print, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1757, colored by hand, lettered "An Undress of the Dutchess of Portsmouth, in 1666" The duchess sits beside a carved stone pedestal at the viewer's right, resting her head on one hand with her elbow on the pedestal and holding a pink folding fan in the other. A lace cap with a tall white headdress crowns her hair. A loose rose pink gown lined in yellow and green is thrown open over a laced bodice and a pale skirt banded in gold. A purple cushion with gold tassels lies on the pedestal behind her.

The English title is engraved in script below the image: "An Undress of the Dutchess of Portsmouth, in 1666" Beneath it, in smaller italic letters, is the French caption "Un Deshabillé ou Negligé de la Duchesse de Portsmouth.", meaning "an undress or negligee of the Duchess of Portsmouth". The plate number 225 is engraved at lower right. "Undress" and "Dutchess" are engraved with long s forms, and "Dutchess" keeps the old spelling. No engraver or artist is named on the plate.

The plate comes from the second volume of Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern, published in London in 1757 by Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the Strand. The work has a parallel French title page, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, which is why each plate is captioned in both languages. The English title page states that the old English dresses were taken after the designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others, so the date in the caption belongs to the costume and not to the print. Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, was a mistress of Charles II; she came to England in 1670 and was made a duchess in 1673, so the date in the caption runs ahead of her time at the English court.

The seated pose sets this plate apart, and it suits a bedroom or a dressing room.

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