Habit of a Rascian Tolpatch in 1742, Hand Colored Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered in script "Habit of a Rascian Tolpatch, in 1742." A moustached soldier with a red cloth tied around his head raises a long spear diagonally across his body, holding it high in his left hand. He wears an open orange brown jacket over a loose white shirt, a pink sash, and tight trousers striped in a spiral of blue and yellow. A musket is slung on his back, its barrel rising behind his shoulder, and a curved saber in its scabbard hangs at his left side.

The French caption beneath reads "Tolpatch Rascien.", meaning Rascian Tolpatch. The plate number 186 is engraved 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. Rascian was the term then used for Serbs living under Habsburg rule, and Tolpatch was a name given to irregular infantry from the Habsburg frontier lands who served in the War of the Austrian Succession.

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.