German Officer with Battle Axe in Plumed Cap and Full Breeches, 1588, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered "Habit of a German Officer, in 1588." It is plate 151 from Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, published in London in 1757. The bearded officer rests his right hand on his hip and holds a short-hafted battle axe in his left hand. He wears a slate blue cap trimmed with plumes and a striped band, a small ruff and a red ribbon at the collar, and a gray doublet slashed in puffs and striped with yellow, with very full puffed sleeves. His wide, baggy breeches fall in deep folds to below the knee, over red stockings and gray shoes, and a sword hangs at his left side.

The English title is engraved in script below the figure, with the French caption "Officier Alemand." (German officer) beneath it and the plate number 151 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.

Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, published the second volume of A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern from his premises in the Strand, London, in 1757. As the title page states, the figures follow the designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others. The book was bilingual, with the French title Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, and its plates pair an English title in script with a shorter French caption.

The plate works well framed on its own, or as part of a small group of regional costume prints in matching frames.

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