Lady of Quality of Bavaria in Blue Lozenge Gown, Costume of 1581, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered "Habit of a Lady of Quality of Bavaria, in 1581." It is plate 155 from Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, published in London in 1757. Shown in profile facing the viewer's left, the lady wears a flat gray cap with a pink feather over a white coif, and a high ruff. Her overgown is patterned in blue and white lozenges and hung with gold chains. Red sleeves and a red skirt crossed by bands of yellow and green checks show at her side, and a long brown mantle falls behind her into a train. Her hands are folded before her.

The English title is engraved in script below the figure, with the French caption "Damoiselle de Bavarie." (Young gentlewoman of Bavaria) beneath it and the plate number 155 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.

Jefferys was a London geographer and map publisher, styled on his title page Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, with premises in the Strand. In 1757 he issued the second volume of A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern. Particularly Old English Dresses, whose figures, according to the title page, were taken after the designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others. The parallel French title, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, explains the bilingual captions.

A plain mat in a warm white sets off the hand coloring, and the plate pairs naturally with other figures from the series.

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