early-dance.de

Marie Adelaide of France as Diana, 1745.
Current location: Uffizi Gallery.

Jean-Marc Nattier was a French painter who did many portraits of the French royal family during the mid 18th century.

Madame Adélaïde of France knotting, 1756.
Current location: Palace of Versailles, accession number: MV3801

Madame Sophie of France, 1748.
Current location: Palace of Versailles, accession number: MV4458

Madame Victoire, 1748.

Madame Louise of France, 1748.
Current location: Palace of Versailles, accession number: MV4428.

Portrait of Mathilde de Canisy, Marquise d’Antin, 1738.
Current location: Musée Jacquemart André, The Picture Gallery, Paris.

Madame Joseph Nicolas Pancrace Royer, ca. 1750.

While looking through the National Trust Collections I came across something interesting. This robe above, dated 1785 - 1795 from the Snowshill Wade Costume Collection stood out very much to me because I’ve never seen anything like it before.

The reason I was so surprised by it is because of the fabric. I’ve never before seen an extant garment made up in a toile de Jouy type fabric before, and thus I’ve always thought it was a fabric used strictly for decorating purposes. I wouldn’t have been so surprised if it was a pair of stays or a pocket that could have been made from scraps, but an entire robe definitely seems unusual to me. The print also seems very large and more suited for massive drapes or something rather than clothing.

Any thoughts on this dress and its unusual fabric? Have you seen any other garments made of toile de Jouy?

Everyone and their grandmother have already blogged abut this, but the National Trust has a new online archive.

So far the information is often scarce, the photos are often small or of bad quality, and the clothes are often badly mounted or not mounted at all. Still there’s lots and lots of great stuff to see, and the search function is great, except for the fact the session times out if you leave it too long.

I found this new database via Isis’ Wardrobe and Madame Berg.

Livrustkammaren (The royal armory), The Hallwyl museum and Skokloster castle have put their large collections online, containing many18th century costumes and other objects. The search function is great but the photo quality isn’t always the best. Click the picture to go to the website.

P.S. I just added a Databases category where I will be adding all the posts about 18th century related databases.

Armfelt by Adolf Ulrich Wertmüller. Source: Livrustkammaren.

In march an exhibition about Gustav Mauritz Armfelt, Gustav III’s favourite, will open at Livrustkammaren in Stockholm. Until then you can follow the preparations of the exhibition through the exhibition blog.

I feel terrible for neglecting this blog so much lately, but here’s a great 18th century blog I just discovered. At the Sign of the Golden Scissors talks about 18th century costuming and has some great articles about 18th century clothing with a focus on historical accuracy.

Very short notice, but on November 12 Drottningholms Slottsteater are selling out some of their costumes. As they mainly use 18th century style costumes I though it might be of interest, especially to those who don’t make their own 18th century clothes!

Portrait of V.E. Novosiltsova, 1780.

Fedor Stepanovich Rokotov was a Russian portrait painter.

Portrait of A.P. Struiskaya, probably 1770s.

Unknown woman, 1770s. This is my favourite of his portraits. I love the hair and the hooded dress, which I believe is of the polonaise cut, based on similar dresses seen in this 1772 portrait of Queen Charlotte by Jeremiah Meyer, this 1770s portrait of Mme Séguier by P.A. Hall, this 1776 portrait of Madame Aignan de Sanlot by Vigée LeBrun and this 1778 fashion plate. I’d like to make one of these hooded polonaise robes someday.

Portrait of A.S. Tulinova, 1770s.

Portrait of P.N. Lanskaya, early 1790s.

A new 18th century tv series is coming soon to Swedish tv, Anno 1790. Apparently it’s a crime series set in the 1790s, though from the trailers it seems to be set at least 20 years earlier.