Civil Dress of the 18th Century, Set of Three Antique Prints, circa 1882

This is a set of three original antique hand-colored wood engravings, sold together as one lot, from Augustin Challamel's La France et les Francais a travers les siecles, Paris, circa 1882. The sheets are, in order: Circassienne, Anglaise and Caraco Gowns; Caraco, Grand Robe and Polonaise of 1780; Redingote, Bourgeois Coat and Ceremonial Dress. Three women in named gowns of the late seventeen eighties and nineties, a robe a la circassienne of 1796, a robe a l'anglaise of 1789 and a caraco morning dress of 1788, each dated on the sheet from the Cabinet des modes. Three women of 1780, an elegant bourgeoise in a caraco, a lady in a grande robe with her hair dressed a la Victoire, and a third in a polonaise, taken from the Galerie des modes francaises. Three men's costumes of the middle of the eighteenth century, a redingote of 1729, a bourgeois coat of about 1745 taken from Chardin, and a ceremonial habit of about 1750, each referenced to its source on the sheet.

The engraving comes from the costume suite of Augustin Challamel's La France et les Francais a travers les siecles, F. Roy, editeur, Paris, circa 1882. Almost every plate in the series cites its source in the caption, a miniature in the Bibliotheque nationale, a tapestry, a picture in the Louvre or a sheet from the Gaignieres collection, and that habit of citation is what lifts the series above the invented costume books of the same decade. The technique is wood engraving, cut on the end grain so that the block could be locked up with the type and printed together with the text, and the color is applied by hand afterwards over the printed line. The washes in this suite are flat and confident, laid in a small number of strong tones, and they cross the engraved outline here and there in the way that only hand work does.

Dated fashion plates are far more useful than undated ones and all three figures here carry their year, which makes this sheet a small reference chart of how French dress moved across the Revolution. The Galerie des modes is the finest French fashion publication of the eighteenth century and the source every costume historian goes to for the seventeen seventies and eighties, so a plate drawn from it carries that authority. They are three original sheets sold together, and the set is never split. Framed as a set in plain wood or in gilt, the sheets give a hallway, a study or a dining room a deliberate and finished line that a single print cannot.

Light uneven toning, browner toward the edges. Marked handling soiling along the edges of all three sheets. Scattered foxing in the margins of all three sheets. Slight wear at the corners of one of the three sheets.

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