Lady of Quality in Burgundy in Green Gown and Plumed Hat, Costume of 1577, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered "Habit of a Lady of Quality in Burgundy, in 1577." It is plate 159 from Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, published in London in 1757. The lady wears a tall green hat with pink plumes set over a broad white veil that spreads out like wings at her shoulders. A small ruff, gold chains and a jeweled girdle complete a long green gown with close sleeves. With both hands she lifts her skirt, revealing a white lining on the viewer's left and a pink-red underskirt on the right, while the green train spreads over the ground behind her.

The English title is engraved in script below the figure, with the French caption "Dame de Qualite, en Bourgogne." (Lady of quality, in Burgundy) beneath it and the plate number 159 at lower right. No engraver or designer is named on the plate. The date in the English title is the date of the costume shown; the print itself was published in 1757.

The plate comes from Volume II of Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern. Particularly Old English Dresses. After the Designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar, and others, published in London in 1757 by Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the Strand. The work was issued in English and French, with a French title page reading Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, which is why every plate carries a caption in both languages.

The single figure on an open ground suits a simple mat and a narrow frame, alone or hung with other costume plates from the same volume.

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