Woman of Quality of Cologne in Gray Veil and Red Skirt, Costume of 1640, 1757

This is an original antique copper engraving with hand coloring, lettered "Habit of a Woman of Quality of Cologn, in 1640." It is plate 165 from Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, published in London in 1757. A large gray veil covers the woman from the crown of her head to below her knees. Beneath it she wears a small red and white cap with a red tuft, a wide pleated white collar and an ochre bodice patterned in gold, with lace cuffs. She holds a white handkerchief before her, a round gold ornament hangs at her waist, and her full red skirt is banded with darker stripes near the hem.

The English title is engraved in script below the figure, with the French caption "Damoiselle de Cologne." (Young gentlewoman of Cologne) beneath it and the plate number 165 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 English caption spells the city Cologn, while the French gives Cologne.

The plate comes from Volume II of Thomas Jefferys' A Collection of the Dresses of Different Nations, Antient and Modern. Particularly Old English Dresses. After the Designs of Holbein, Vandyke, Hollar, and others, published in London in 1757 by Jefferys, Geographer to his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in the Strand. The work was issued in English and French, with a French title page reading Recueil des Habillements de Différentes Nations, which is why every plate carries a caption in both languages.

The single figure on an open ground suits a simple mat and a narrow frame, alone or hung with other costume plates from the same volume.

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