Wife of Rubens in 1620 with a Feather Fan, Jefferys Costume Plate, 1757

An original antique print, a copper engraving colored by hand, lettered "Habit of Rubens Wife, in 1620." A young woman faces the viewer in a broad green hat trimmed with pink plumes, a wide sheer collar standing out from her shoulders. She holds a large white feather fan across her body. Her low necked bodice is pale blue set with a jeweled ornament, her full white sleeves are gathered at the elbow, and a plum colored overgown edged with pearls falls open at the front over a full skirt of golden yellow silk. A white handkerchief hangs at her side at the viewer's left.

The English title is engraved in script beneath the image: "Habit of Rubens Wife, in 1620." Below it is the French caption "Femme de Rubens." (in English, "Wife of Rubens"), and the plate number 148 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. In 1620 Peter Paul Rubens was married to his first wife, Isabella Brant, whom he had wed in Antwerp in 1609. The year in the English title is the date of the costume shown, not of the print, which was published in 1757.

A cream or ivory mat brings out the hand coloring against the plain paper.

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