Figure 25. — Man of quality at the court of Louis 

 XIV. Engraving by Jean de St. Jean, 1693. 

 {Courtesy of Victoria & Albert Museum, London) 



knife, and selected pieces of small-pattern fabrics 

 were mounted on stiff paper forming an underlay to 

 the print. 



In England, there was no fashion journalism or 

 series of prints that can be regarded as illustrations 

 of late 17th-century fashion. Some use can be made 

 of the engravings after Marcellus Laroon, which were 

 first sold separately and later published in 1711 as 

 the Cryes of London,^^ to illustrate costume in England, 

 but neither these nor the illustrations of English men 

 and women which appear in general works on the 

 costume of Europe can be accepted as fashion plates. 

 Other series, such as the plates on the dress of Augs- 

 burg engraved by Jeremias Wolff, belong more to 



the history of costume tiian to the history of fashion. 



In the early years of tiie 18th century, Bernard 

 Picard, best known for his great illustrated work on 

 the religions of the world, made a few small and very 

 neat engravings of fashionable ladies, which were 

 published in Amsterdam in the 1720s. These en- 

 gravings, some dated 1703, should not be classed as 

 fashion plates; like the Le Clerc engraving of the man 

 in rhinegrave breeches (fig. 15), they are from draw- 

 ing books. Some of them, part reengraved by G. 

 Bickham, Jr., were reissued in London after 1732.'" 



In Paris there was a revix^al of the fashion plate in 

 the late 1720s. The still-existing Mircurf dc France, 

 direct successor of the Mercure Galant, carried an 

 occasional fashion article with engravings of dress 

 accessories. In March 1729 (fig. 27), there is a not- 

 \ery -well-defined sketch of a lady with her page, 

 meeting a gentleman. The accompanying para- 

 graphs are not valuable but contain a recommenda- 

 tion for "garnitures" to be had from La Demoiselle 

 Perronet, in the Cour Abbatial of St. Germain des 

 Pres. As for "coeflfures et tetes ... on les coeffe sur 

 une poupee." 



In the same year, 1729, a set of eight fashion plates 

 entitled Recueil des Differenles Modes dii Temps was 

 issued by Herisset apparently to advertise a modiste 

 called Chereau at the "Grand St. Remy" in the Rue 

 St. Jacques. They are carefully drawn and show 

 back and front views as well as indicating materials 

 (fig. 28). No accompanying text has been found, but 

 as they are known in two versions, one said to have 

 been printed in Germany, it is likely that some de- 

 scriptions were prepared for the export market.** 



The French engravers working in England — Grave- 

 lot, Grignon, and Boitard — produced some dated 

 portraits of English ladies which can be used as fashion 

 illustrations. The caricature scenes, "Taste a la 

 Mode, 1735" and "Taste a la Mode, 1745," pub- 

 lished by Robert Sayer in 1749,^" also may serve as 

 records of fashion. There was, however, no journal of 

 fashion in England before the reign of George III. 

 Indeed, there seems to have been no publication or 

 series of prints to give guidance to the fashion trade 

 in Europe in tlic mid-1 8th century. 



36 The Cryes of ike City of London. Diawnc after llie Life, deline- 

 ated by M. Lauron, engraved by P. Tempest (London: H. 

 Overton, 1711). 



3! A neiv Drawing book of Modes, by Mons B. Picart (printed 

 for Richard Ware at the Bible & Sun in Amen Corner, War- 

 wick Lane, London; no date). 



38 R. Colas, Biblwgraphie du costume (1933), nos. 2502, 2503. 



■19 G. Paston, Social Caricature m t/ie ISth Century (1905), 

 pi. facing p. 10. 



84 



BULLETIN 2 50 : CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY .AND TECHNOLOGY 



