Fashion and Elegance: Strolling Parisians

Pierre François Courtois (mentioned on object), c. 1761

During the early 18th century small series of costume plates reported on the fashion of the day. Women wore the loose-fitting robe volante, also called a ‘sack-backed gown’ in English, over which women sometimes added a short, hooded cloak known as a bagnolette. Men dressed in long coats over a waistcoat and knee-breeches. Pig-tail wigs were adorned with large bows, and tricorne hats were tucked under the arm rather than worn on the head. The two large prints from around 1760 show Parisians out for a stroll. Curiously, the women wear wide paniers (hoop skirts) for their promenade on the ramparts. In the caption underneath, they are condemned as silly slaves of fashion who blindly follow the dictates of the latest trends.

  • Artwork typekostuumprent
  • Object numberRP-P-OB-42.959
  • Dimensionsheight 289 mm x width 384 mm

Identification

  • Title(s)

    Fashion and Elegance: Strolling Parisians

  • Object type

  • Object number

    RP-P-OB-42.959

  • Description

    Mannen en vrouwen, gekleed volgens de Franse mode van 1760, flaneren op de Promenade des Remparts in Parijs. Rechts een gezelschap zittend aan een tafel voor een theehuis.

  • Inscriptions / marks

    • caption: ‘Que j'aime à contempler sur ces Remparts charmans / Le caprice du joir et les Hommes du tems. / J'y vois au fond d'un Char la stupide Opulence / À peine d'un regard honorer l'Indigence. / J'y vois le financier trancher du Monseigneur, / La coquette aux yeux faux, la prude au ris mocqueur: / Sur un coursier fougueux paroît l'étourderie: / Tout auprès marche à pied le Sage qu'on oublie. / Ces différens objects dissipent mon ennui: / Suivons-les; mais de loin, c'est la mode aujourd'hui: / Elle fut de tout tems: à l'aimer tout m' engage; / Qui l'introduit est fou, qui la fuit n'est pas Sage.’
    • signature: ‘P.F. Courtois sculp.’
    • title: ‘La Promenade des Remparts de Paris’
    • collector's mark: Lugt 2228
    • address: ‘A Paris chez la Vve de F. Chereau rue St. Jacques aux deux Pilleirs d'Or’
    • signature: ‘Aug. de St Aubin Inv. et del.’
  • Catalogue reference

    IFF 18e siècle 3


Creation

  • Creation

    • printmaker: Pierre François Courtois (mentioned on object)
    • after drawing by Augustin de Saint-Aubin (mentioned on object)
    • publisher: weduwe François Chéreau (I) (mentioned on object), Paris
  • Dating

    c. 1761

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Material and technique

  • Dimensions

    height 289 mm x width 384 mm


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