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Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the print could look; the description says what is included.
Aletes in the Tragedy of Creusa, Georgian Stage Costume, Jefferys Print, 1757
$420
€375 · £320
Original print, not a reproduction.
Ships worldwide from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked. 14-day returns.
- Date
- 1757
- Technique
- Copper Engraving
- Coloring
- Hand colored
- Condition
- Good. Light handling wear to the bottom left corner; minor nicks along the left edge. Light, uneven toning, lightly soiled along the left edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. A few small light flecks in the printed area.
- Wardrobe
- Court & couture
- Era
- 1700s, Rococo
- Stock no.
- BG-14276-231
What the condition grades mean
- Excellent
- Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
- Very good
- Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
- Good
- Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
- Fair
- Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
This is an original antique copper engraving from 1757, colored by hand, lettered "Habit of Aletes in the Tragedy of Creusa." Aletes stands facing the viewer in a tall black fur cap, a crimson cloak lined and bordered with black fur falling from his shoulders. Beneath it he wears a gray cuirass worked with silver scrolls and masks, a pink sash, and a skirt of tabbed and fringed lappets in pink and gold, the upper ones bearing small masks. His hand rests on the hilt of a sword that angles down toward the viewer's right, and pale hose end in laced buff boots trimmed with fur.
The English title is engraved in script below the image: "Habit of Aletes in the Tragedy of Creusa." Beneath it, in smaller italic letters, is the French caption "Aletes, dans la Tragedie de Creuse.", meaning "Aletes, in the tragedy of Creusa". The plate number 231 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. Creusa, Queen of Athens, a tragedy by William Whitehead, was first staged at Drury Lane in 1754.
The crimson and black coloring is striking, and the plate hangs well with other stage figures from the same series.
Condition: Light handling wear to the bottom left corner; minor nicks along the left edge. Light, uneven toning, lightly soiled along the left edge. A few small foxing spots in the margin. A few small light flecks in the printed area.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
