La Veue

A coloured print of a seated woman, entitled 'La Veue' and inscribed, 'Vous vous plaisés avoir pour nourrir votre flamme/ De ce portrait ce qu'il a de plus beau/ Et ce pendant l'amour de son secret pinceau/ En trace un autre dans vostre ame', and, 'Chez Hbonnart au Coq avec privil' and 'H Bonnart del', c. 1686.

This woman is the personification of Sight and part of the series Five Senses. She wears a gown with a low-cut, tight bodice. On her head is a commode, a structure made of a wire frame covered with silk. The lady’s accessories are an oval portrait, possibly of her lover, and a monocular.

Henry Bonnart was one of four brothers (Nicolas, Henry, Robert and Jean-Baptiste) who were all engravers and sellers of engravings. They were especially active in the last quarter of the seventeenth century and are mostly known for their production of fashion plates.

Compare with British Museum Online Catalogue, inventory number: 1922,0410.167.

Further reading:
Colas, R., Bibliographie Generale du Costume et de la Mode. Description des suites, recueils, series, revues et livres Français et etrangers relatifs au costume civil, militaire et religieux, aux modes, aux coiffures et aux divers accessoires de l’habillement, avec une table methodique et un index alphabetique, Paris 1933, entry 2629.

Reynolds, A., In fine Style. The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion, London 2013.

Ribeiro, A., Fashion and Fiction. Dress in Art and Literature in Stuart England, London 2005.