Habit of a Swedish Lady of Quality in 1577, Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered in script "Habit of a Sweedish Lady of Quality, in 1577", with the old spelling Sweedish. A lady of rank stands facing us in a tall black hat worn over a white cap, with a small ruff at her throat. A full rose colored gown with a broad fur collar is gathered over her arm and falls open to show green sleeves and a green underdress, the fronts lined with pale fur. She holds a pair of gloves in her right hand, on the viewer's left.

The French caption below reads "Dame de Qualité en Suedé.", meaning lady of quality in Sweden; the accent on Suedé is engraved as printed. The plate is numbered 187 at lower right, and 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. The date in the caption refers to the costume, not to the print.

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.