Habit of a Moscovian Officer in 1577 with Bow, Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered in script "Habit of a Moscovian Officer in 1577". A white bearded officer in a fur hat with a pale blue plume stands facing us, holding a strung recurved bow in his right hand on the viewer's left and a short staff with a knob in his left. His olive coat, trimmed with fur at the collar, shoulders and hem, flares into a wide skirt lined in pink lattice, belted with a checked red and yellow sash. His sleeves are striped in blue and yellow, and his boots are tan.

The French caption reads "Officier Russien.", meaning Russian officer. The plate is numbered 189 at lower right, and no artist or engraver is named.

This is a plate from Volume II of A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern, issued in London in 1757 by Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, from his premises in the Strand. Its title page credits the designs to Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others, and a French title page, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, accompanies the English one, so each figure is captioned in both languages. Moscovian is an old form of Muscovite, the usual English term in the sixteenth century for the subjects of the tsar in Moscow.

The figure stands alone on the sheet with ample margins, so it frames easily and sits comfortably beside other costume plates.

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