German Officer over 100 Men with Striped Staff, Costume of 1588, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered "Habit of a German Officer, over 100 Men, in 1588". It is plate 152 from Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, published in London in 1757. The bearded officer turns his head toward the viewer's left and leans with his right hand on a long staff striped in red and yellow. He wears a brimmed olive hat with a red band and a pink plume, a ruff, and a brown jerkin over full mustard yellow sleeves. A pink sash is knotted at his waist above red and white striped paned hose ending in pink points, and he wears light blue stockings with red garters and tan shoes, a sword hanging behind him.

The English title is engraved in script below the figure, with the French caption "Centenier Allemand." (German centenier, that is, a commander of a hundred men) beneath it and the plate number 152 at lower right. No engraver or designer is named on the plate. The date in the English title is the date of the costume shown; the print itself was published in 1757.

Jefferys was a London geographer and map publisher, styled on his title page Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, with premises in the Strand. In 1757 he issued the second volume of A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern. Particularly Old English Dresses, whose figures, according to the title page, were taken after the designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others. The parallel French title, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, explains the bilingual captions.

A plain mat in a warm white sets off the hand coloring, and the plate pairs naturally with other figures from the series.

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