Dame de qualité en echarpe

A print of a woman inscribed in ink, 'Dame de qualité en echarpe' (Lady of high rank with scarf). Text cut off: ‘'Dame de qualité en echarpe/ A Paris chez J. Mariette rue S. Jacques aux colonnes d'Hercules avec privilège du Roi’.

The lady seems to be wearing a mantua, which reveals her elaborately adorned petticoat. Her gown is mostly covered by a large shawl with lace detail. On her head is a fontange, a structure of wires and lace, covered by a veil. Around her arm is a fur muff; a garment to keep the hands warm, often containing several pockets for the keeping of small necessities or scent. On her face are a small and a relatively large patch, a fake beauty mark made from fabric.

The publisher of this print, Jean Mariette (1660 – 1742), was a printmaker and publisher who inherited his father’s shop at Colonnes d’Hercules in Paris in 1691. It is uncertain whether Mariette also designed and engraved the print.

Further reading:
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.