Nobleman of the United Provinces in 1588, Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

An original antique print, a copper engraving colored by hand, lettered "Habit of a Nobleman of the United Provinces, in 1588." A bearded man strides toward the viewer's right, one hand on his hip and the other stretched out. He wears a green hat with a red scarf wound around the crown, a small ruff and several gold chains. His doublet and full trunk hose are golden yellow striped with dark bands, with puffed sleeves and striped shoulder rolls. A sword hangs at his hip, its blade angled back toward the viewer's left, and his gray stockings are tied at the knee with red garters above tan shoes.

The English title is engraved in script beneath the image: "Habit of a Nobleman of the United Provinces, in 1588." Below it is the French caption "Noble des Provinces-Unies." (in English, "Noble of the United Provinces"), and the plate number 142 is engraved at lower right. No engraver or designer is named on the plate.

Thomas Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, published A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern from his premises in the Strand, London, and this plate is from the second volume, dated 1757 on its title page. The title page credits the designs to Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others, and a French title, Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, accounts for the bilingual lettering. It falls among the figures from the Low Countries in the volume. The United Provinces were the northern provinces of the Low Countries that joined together against Spain under the Union of Utrecht in 1579. The year in the English title is the date of the costume shown, not of the print, which was published in 1757.

It can be shown on its own or grouped with neighboring plates from the same nation.

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