Habit of a Noble Matron of England in 1577, Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered in script "Habit of a Noble Matron of England, in 1577." A lady in a red hat with a gold band and a white plume points to the left with her right hand, and holds a pair of gloves in her left. She wears a small ruff and a red bodice with a gold chain, under a long dark blue gray gown with a broad fur collar and fur facings, open over a green underdress edged in gold at the hem.

The French caption beneath reads "Matrone Noble d'Angleterre.", meaning noble matron of England. The plate number 208 is engraved at lower right; no artist or engraver is named.

Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, published A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern in London in 1757, and this plate comes from the second volume. The title page names Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others as the sources of the designs, and the book also bears a French title, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, matching the French captions engraved beneath each English title. Plates 207 to 210 show English dress of 1577, the same year as many of the foreign figures earlier in the volume.

With its clear single figure and wide margins, the plate is easy to mount and frame, alone or as part of a small group.

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