Tancred in Tancred and Sigismunda, Georgian Stage Costume, Jefferys, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1757, colored by hand, lettered "Habit of Tancred, in the Tragedy of Tancred & Sigismunda." Tancred stands with a long spear planted at the viewer's left and his other hand on his hip. He wears a black fur cap with a red bag and gold tassel hanging to one side, a scarlet jacket crossed with rows of white frogging, and close fitting scarlet breeches buttoned down the side. A short cape lined in pale yellow and edged with fur hangs from one shoulder, a saber with a steel hilt is slung from a black belt, and he wears short dark boots with fur tops.

The English title is engraved in script below the image: "Habit of Tancred, in the Tragedy of Tancred & Sigismunda." Beneath it, in smaller italic letters, is the French caption "Tancrede, dans la Tragédie de même nom, et Sigismonde.", meaning "Tancred, in the tragedy of the same name, and Sigismunda". The plate number 233 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. Tancred and Sigismunda, James Thomson's tragedy, was first acted at Drury Lane in 1745. The fur cap and frogged jacket resemble hussar dress.

The scarlet figure with its long spear makes a strong vertical composition that frames well on its own.

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