French Gentleman in 1581 with a Braided Red Coat, Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

An original antique print, a copper engraving colored by hand, lettered "Habit of a French Gentleman, in 1581." A bearded man stands with one hand extended toward the viewer's right. He wears a small round cap wound with a pink band and a broad fluted ruff. Over his shoulders hangs a long red coat lined in green, its front and hanging sleeves crossed with rows of gold braid and buttons. Beneath it are a buttoned doublet striped in gold and opening onto blue, a shoulder belt, and full lilac breeches patterned in gold. A sword shows at his side, its blade angling back between his legs, and he wears pink stockings and yellow shoes.

Two lines of lettering run below the figure. The English title, in a flowing script, reads "Habit of a French Gentleman, in 1581." The French caption beneath it reads "Francois", meaning "Frenchman", and the number 129 is engraved at lower right. The plate carries no engraver or designer credit.

The plate comes from the second volume of Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern. Particularly Old English Dresses. After the Designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar, and others, published in London in 1757 by Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the Strand. The work carried a parallel French title, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, which explains the French caption on each plate. It falls among the French figures of the volume. The year in the English title is the date of the costume shown, not of the print, which was published in 1757.

The clear figure and the engraved lettering read well at a distance, which suits a gallery wall of costume prints.

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