Robe à la Circassienne Garnie à la Chartres: la Coëffure de meme, Avec le Tableau des Evenements

Art Historical Context

Step into the opulent world of 18-century French fashion with this-colored etching, *Robe à la Circienne Garnie à la Chartres: la Coëffure de meme, Avec Tableau des Evenements*. anonymously in the 1770s, it showcases a stylish woman in a "Circassian robe" trimmed in the Chartres style—a loose, flowing gown inspired by exotic Eastern influences, paired with an elaborate matching coiffure. The title's reference to a "Tableau des Even" suggests a decorative panel evoking significant events, adding narrative flair to the ensemble. This print exemplifies the Rococo era's obsession with fashion as social currency, just before the French Revolution upended aristocratic excess. Fashion plates like this one, produced via etching and meticulously hand-colored for vivid appeal, democratized high style by circulating trends among the elite and aspiring middle class. At 12 5/8 x 7 5/8 inches, its intimate scale made it perfect for albums or parlors. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, 1924), this artifact offers a window into women's lives through clothing—symbols of status, romance, and cultural exchange in pre-Revolutionary Paris. A delightful snapshot of vanity and vogue!

About the Artist

Anonymous, French, 18th century · 1700–1800

The artist known as Anonymous, French, 18th century, represents a collective of unidentified talents active roughly between 1700 and 1800, a period of profound artistic evolution in France from the opulent Rococo to the austere dawn of Neoclassicism and Revolutionary fervor. Little is documented about their personal training or mentors, as their anonymity obscures individual biographies, though th...