Elizabeth of York, Queen to Henry VII in 1490, Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered in script "Habit of (Lady Elizabeth) Queen to King Henry VII. in 1490." The queen stands in three quarter view, her hands folded at her waist, wearing a gable hood with a dark veil falling behind and a jeweled pendant at her neck. Her golden gown is woven with a large scrolling pattern, cut square at the neck, tied with a pink sash, and trimmed with ermine at the cuffs and at a deep border near the hem. It is lifted to show a crimson underskirt.

The French caption below reads "Elizabeth Femme du Roi Henry VII.", meaning Elizabeth, wife of King Henry VII. The plate number 194 is engraved at lower right, and no artist or engraver is named.

The plate belongs to the second volume of Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern. Particularly Old English Dresses, published in London in 1757 by Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the Strand. The title page states that the figures were taken after the designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others, and the work carried a parallel French title, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, which explains the two languages on every plate. Elizabeth of York, eldest daughter of Edward IV, married Henry VII in 1486, uniting the houses of York and Lancaster. The gable hood she wears is typical of English dress around 1500.

A single standing figure on a generous margin, it suits a simple mount and frame and works well alone or in a group with other plates from the series.

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