Imoinda in the Tragedy of Oroonoko, Front View, Georgian Stage, Jefferys 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1757, colored by hand, lettered "Habit of Imoinda, in the Tragedy of Oroonoko." Imoinda stands in a three quarter pose, one arm extended toward the viewer's left and the other hand raised at her chest. A small cap with a dark aigrette sits on her dark hair, with a long white veil streaming behind. She wears a short white jacket edged with lace and trimmed in blue, a high ruffled collar and pink sleeves, over a full pink skirt spotted with gold. Two crimson ribbons with gold tassels hang down the front of the skirt.

The English title is engraved in script below the image: "Habit of Imoinda, in the Tragedy of Oroonoko." Beneath it, in smaller italic letters, is the French caption "Imoinda dans la Tragédie d'Oroonoko.", meaning "Imoinda in the tragedy of Oroonoko". The plate number 235 is engraved at lower right. No engraver or artist is named on the plate.

The plate comes from the second volume of Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern, published in London in 1757 by Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the Strand. The work has a parallel French title page, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, which is why each plate is captioned in both languages. The later plates of the volume form a series titled The Habits of the Principal Characters on the English Stage, recording how leading parts were dressed in the London theaters of the period. Oroonoko, Thomas Southerne's tragedy of 1695 based on Aphra Behn's novel, stayed in the London repertory through the eighteenth century, and Imoinda is its heroine. The next plate in the volume shows Imoinda again, seen from behind and in a different gown.

The pink and white coloring is soft and pretty, and the plate pairs well with the back view of Imoinda that follows it.

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