Three English Gentlemen of 1735, 1745 and 1755, Jefferys Costume Print, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving from 1757, colored by hand, lettered "Habits of English Gentlemen, in the Years 1735(a) 1745(b) 1755(c)." Three gentlemen stand in conversation, each marked with a small letter below his feet. At the viewer's left, c (1755) wears a black tricorn trimmed with gold, a gray coat over a green waistcoat frogged with gold, and green breeches, with a sword at his side. In the center, a (1735), bareheaded in a white wig, wears a long orange coat with pink cuffs over a pink waistcoat, a black stock and red stockings. At the right, b (1745) wears a tricorn, a scarlet coat over a blue waistcoat laced with gold, black breeches and white stockings.

The English title is engraved in script below the image: "Habits of English Gentlemen, in the Years 1735(a) 1745(b) 1755(c)." Beneath it, in smaller italic letters, is the French caption "Habillement des Gentilshommes Anglois en 1735 &c.", meaning "dress of English gentlemen in 1735, and so on". The plate number 227 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 English title page states that the old English dresses were taken after the designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar and others, so the date in the caption belongs to the costume and not to the print. These three figures record men's fashion in Jefferys' own lifetime, set side by side so that the changes in coat, waistcoat and hat over twenty years can be compared at a glance.

With three figures and strong color, this sheet makes an attractive single picture, and it is the companion to the plate of English ladies of the same years.

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