Habit of a Russian Merchant in 1577, Hand Colored Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered in script "Habit of a Russian Merchant in 1577." A merchant with a long gray beard stands in a soft fur cap with turned up flaps, pointing to the left with his right hand while his left rests on his hip holding a pair of gloves. He wears a long red coat closed with rows of braided frogging and edged with fur, a green striped sash at the waist, and over it all a long brown cloak with a deep fur collar. Gray boots complete the dress.

The French caption beneath reads "Marchand de Russie.", meaning merchant of Russia. The plate number 188 is engraved at lower right; no artist or engraver is named.

The plate belongs to the second volume of Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern. Particularly Old English Dresses, published in London in 1757 by Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the Strand. The title page states that the figures were taken after the designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others, and the work carried a parallel French title, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, which explains the two languages on every plate. The date in the caption refers to the costume. English trade with Russia had been organized through the Muscovy Company since the 1550s.

A single standing figure on a generous margin, it suits a simple mount and frame and works well alone or in a group with other plates from the series.

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