32e Cahier, 25e Suite, HH.190
Gallerie des modes et costumes français. 32e Cahier de Costumes Français. 25e Suite d'Habillemens à la mode, en 1780. HH.190
ca. 1780
Designed by Pierre-Thomas Le Clerc (French, Paris 1740–1796); engraved by Charles Emmanuel (Jean Baptiste) Patas (French, Paris 1744–1802)
Hand-colored engraving
Approx. 11 1/2 × 17 in. (29.2 × 43.2 cm)
Frick Art Research Library; Gift of Melinda Martin Sullivan, 2016
Image Frick Digital Studio
Girls and Dolls
Children's wear of this period often mirrored adult fashions. The girl's hat, adorned with a bouquet of white plumes—an emblem of Henry IV of France—was inspired by costumes worn at Louis XVI's court balls honoring Henry IV's reign. The girl holds a fashion doll (called a pandora or poupée) dressed in a miniature version of the latest fashion sent by dressmakers to their clients as design models.
Inscription
English: "The little girl seen from the front is dressed in a taffeta frock trimmed with gauze; she has a gauze apron, her frock is made in the English style; a 'Henry IV'–style hat. The other little girl has a woolen frock turned up in the Polish style. The little boy is dressed as an ordinary sailor with rolled up sleeves."
French: "La petite Fille vue de face est vétue d'un Foureau de Tafetas garni de Gaze elle a un Tablier de Gaze son Foureau est fait à l'anglaise; Chapeau à la Henry-quatre. L'autre petite Fille a un Foureau de Burat retroussé à la polonaise. Le petit Garçon en Matelot simple et les Manches retroussées."