DECORATIVE Romantic, Genre

BONNART

These engravings represent the earliest fashion plates in the modern sense. Fashion magazines of the 18th century were preceded by a series of single plates, often purporting to show noble or newsworthy people, but always indicating the latest fashions. These were produced by a small group of art and print sellers who worked in Paris (1680-1700), many of them from their print shops on the Rue St. Jacques (Nevinson). Based on portraits of members of the French royal family and the court circle, or famous visitors to Paris, or celebrated actors of the time, the engravings quickly lost their individuality and became "stock" figures, although the clothing pictured was of the latest fashions. Series of plates were published of men and women wearing clothes of different styles and for different occasions such as Femme de qualite.... en habit Grec, en habit d'Este, or "jouant de la harpe...du Clav'esin," etc. Men were depicted Homme de qualite allant incognito, par la Ville, or en habit D'Espee, with several variations. The engravings were issued in black and white and in color. Most collections in France are black and white, according to Gaudriault, probably because the hand coloring did not correspond to the actual color of the clothing. A very few had actual fabrics attached to the verso of the engraving, such as in the collection at the Morgan Library, from which one can more properly see the actual colors and fabrics (Nevinson). Because "gravures de mode" could not be printed without the King's authorization, these engravings provide an accurate picture of clothes worn at Court. As the engravings were widely exported outside of Paris, they helped to popularize Parisian fashions around Europe. Gauriault lists 361 fashion plates printed during the period of 1643-1715 under the category of "modes" established by the Bibliotheque Nationale's l'inventaire du Fonds francaise; although, he notes that "modes" leaves out engravings from a "genre" series such as Season or Eléments More precise is the number of engraver-publishers who sold early "mode" plates, which Gaudriault lists at nineteen, including the important Bonnart family as one.

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