Lady of Silesia in Patchwork Fur Cloak and Gold Headdress, Costume of 1577, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered "Habit of a Lady of Silesia, in 1577." It is plate 178 from Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, published in London in 1757. The young woman wears a jeweled gold cap over hair gathered in a knot, with a long dark fringed veil falling down her back. A white shirt collar shows above a standing collar edged in red and gold. Over her dress she wears a great cloak made of fur pieces in a checkered pattern, set with small fur tails and bordered in fur. A red panel shows at the front, above a long pleated and striped skirt.

The English title is engraved in script below the figure, with the French caption "Dame de Silesie" (Lady of Silesia) beneath it and the plate number 178 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 French caption is lettered without a final stop.

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.