Habit of an English Page in the Reign of Edward VI, Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered in script "Habit of an English Page in the Reign of Edw.d VI." A curly haired boy in a white ruff holds out a red hat with a white plume in his right hand, on the viewer's left, and rests his left hand on the hilt of a short sword. His rose pink doublet has puffed sleeves and a gold chain, and full blue trunk hose sit above pale stockings gartered at the knee. Long blue ribbons hang from his left shoulder and are knotted below the waist.

The French caption below reads "Page Anglois sous le regne d'Edouard VI.", meaning English page in the reign of Edward VI. The plate number 199 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. Pages were boys of good family placed in noble or royal households to learn manners and service. The reign named in the caption is that of Edward VI, from 1547 to 1553.

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.