English Lady of Quality in 1640 with Feather Fan, Jefferys Costume Print, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1757, colored by hand, lettered "Habit of an English Lady of Quality, in 1640." A young woman with fair curls stands facing the viewer, her hands folded at her waist. A string of pearls circles her throat, a wide falling collar of lace covers her shoulders, a jeweled brooch is pinned at the neck and a long rope of pearls crosses her bodice. Her blue gown has full sleeves ending in white lace cuffs and a hem banded in gold and pale blue, and a front panel striped in red and gold runs from breast to floor. At her side, at the viewer's left, she holds a large fan of dark feathers on a jeweled handle.

The English title is engraved in script below the image: "Habit of an English Lady of Quality, in 1640." Beneath it, in smaller italic letters, is the French caption "Dame Anglois de Qualite.", meaning "English lady of quality". The plate number 216 is engraved at lower right. 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. The soft lace collar and loose curls show the move away from the stiff Elizabethan ruff toward the Caroline fashion of the years before the Civil War.

The clear blue and striped gold make this one of the brighter figures of the 1640 group, and it pairs well with the nobleman of the same year.

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