Visualizations of Fashion in Seventeenth-Century French
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VISUALIZATIONS OF FASHION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH PRINTS A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Elizabeth Seaton Davis January 2012 © 2012, Elizabeth Seaton Davis VISUALISATIONS OF FASHION IN SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY FRENCH PRINTS Elizabeth Davis, PhD Cornell University 2012 The period in French history which began in the mid-1670s and ended in 1715 with the death of Louis XIV, experienced a burgeoning French interest in the textile and fashion arts. At the same time, Paris was becoming the center of printmaking in Europe, and among its many products were large numbers of etched and engraved fashion prints. This study investigates a particular group of prints which depicted dress of the wealthy class of France, including images of well-known personages of the royal court. It explores the role of these images as early manifestations of a fashion print genre which flourished, but eventually declined, only to resurface and succeed later in the eighteenth century. These late seventeenth-century prints disseminated French fashion as part of a nascent fashion system developing in France, and contributed to the beginnings of French fashion hegemony. The methodology for this study derives from practices used in both dress history and art history. Data collection involved the examination and documentation of extant French prints, supplemented by the study of contemporaneous textiles and paintings. A set of criteria was developed in order to compile and quantitatively analyze the imagery presented in the 750 prints included in the study. Using primary sources, a qualitative analysis was applied to these findings in order to articulate the social and cultural meanings in dress of the period. The results from both analyses were used to formulate conclusions regarding their placement in the history of dress and fashion of late seventeenth-century France. Fashion prints provided a means for the movement of ideas from one region to another. Economical to produce in quantity, easy to transport, and less costly than paintings, they were popular in France, and soon appeared in neighboring European markets. Their appeal derived from artistic qualities as well as idealizations of beauty, fashion and power. Foreign audiences exposed to these images adopted and adapted French fashion, lending to a growing French dominance in European fashion. Conflicts in Europe disrupted their production as did changing attitudes promoted by the early Enlightenment, which found their messages no longer relevant. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Elizabeth Davis was born and raised in the Washington, DC area, and received her bachelor‟s degree in anthropology in 1974 from the University of Maryland. Following graduation, she did field work in Oaxaca, Mexico, studying indigenous weaving practices of the Zapotec population. After marrying and raising a family, in 2005 she entered the master‟s degree program in the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell University. For her master‟s thesis, she studied the use of lace in late Victorian women‟s dress, 1870 to 1890. Upon completion of this degree, she continued her studies, beginning a doctoral degree program in the same department at Cornell. Although the topic of her inquiry has shifted to seventeenth-century French fashion, lace is still a component of her research. This dissertation signals the completion of her doctoral degree, though not her studies. iii DEDICATION To my family iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to begin these acknowledgments by thanking the members of my committee, who have generously lent their time, advice and encouragement to me over the past four years. Professor Charlotte Jirousek has been an exceptional adviser and mentor for the study of historic dress, and helped me to grow as a scholar. I wish to thank her for the guidance of my master‟s degree work as well as this dissertation. I am grateful for her encouragement to pursue a dissertation topic of my own choosing, which allowed me to formulate and develop a project which combined both of my passions, dress and art history. I also wish to express my deep appreciation for her advice and training in conservation and collections management while working in the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection. I wish to thank Professor Claudia Lazzaro, who introduced me to historic prints in the H.F. Johnson Museum of Art collection, and opened my eyes to their astonishing beauty. She has been a constant source of inspiration and support, and I have appreciated her advice and suggestions during times when I was unsure of the direction of my work. From the time I began pursuing graduate degrees at Cornell University, Professor Kaja McGowan supported my work, and has generously lent her time and patience to me in conversation, advice and friendship. I am indebted to Professor Van Dyck Lewis, who has always asked good, probing questions, and motivated me to think beyond the basics of description and narrative, offering the chance to experience the true meaning of education. There are several members of the Cornell community that deserve special thanks. I wish to thank the faculty of the department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design, who have shown by example their commitment to excellence in both research and teaching. I especially appreciate Professor Susan Ashdown‟s positive attitude and her work ethic, two characteristics which were v very inspiring to me as a graduate student. Working with Professor Anita Racine, whose understanding of apparel design is superior, provided me the valuable experience of teaching directly to undergraduates while under her knowledgeable and intelligent guidance. I would also like to thank Charlotte Coffman, whose friendship and humor I have always valued, and Nancy Breen, a friend who shares an interest in historic dress as well as many other subjects. Of the numerous graduate students with whom I was honored to share offices and grievances, I would like to express my appreciation for their patience and kindness by allowing an older student amongst their young and sprightly midst. I am especially indebted to Mario Roman, whose conversations are always interesting and stimulating, and Fatma Baytar, whose goodness is infectious. I would like to express my appreciation to the various funding organizations and thoughtful donors who made this dissertation research possible. I wish to thank the Cornell University Graduate School, which granted me a Graduate School Research Award at the beginning stages of this study. This award enabled me to start preliminary research on the subject of seventeenth-century prints in collections in the United States, and established the necessary foundation for later investigations. I am very grateful for the award of the Manon Michels Einaudi Research Grant from the Institute for European Studies, part of The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University. Receiving this award was a great honor for me, and allowed my data collection to extend to European collections, an opportunity which resulted in a significant amount of new information which strengthened the dissertation. Two awards from the Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design were instrumental in allowing my research to progress. The Lillian B. Powell, Evelyn E. Stout, Martha E Foulk Fellowships and Anna Cora Smith Scholarship was very much appreciated, and allowed me the vi time to travel to the many institutions listed in this acknowledgment. The generous FSAD Dissertation Research Grant helped to fund these travels. I would also like to thank the Human Ecology Alumni Association, and the Cornell Graduate School, which both helped to fund expenses associated with the annual symposium of the Costume Society of America held in 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri, where I presented the findings of this dissertation. I was much honored when the department of FSAD selected my presentation as the winner of the Graduate Student Presentation Competition. The funds from this award were used for expenses relating to the presentation of a paper at the annual symposium of the Costume Society of America held in 2011 in Boston. Two organizations have provided encouragement for this study. The Costume Society of America has allowed me to present topics related to my dissertation research at two national meetings and one regional meeting. This has not only provided a venue for presenting the subject of seventeenth-century fashion prints to this audience, but has also introduced me to other scholars in the field who share an interest in historic dress. To the Finger Lakes Lace Guild, I wish to express my appreciation for their continued interest in my research, during both master‟s and doctoral degrees, and for sharing their lace expertise and knowledge with a novice lace maker such as myself. There are several museums and libraries in the United States and Europe which generously shared their valuable collections, and for the directors and staffs of those institutions, I would like to express my very sincerest gratitude. In Washington, DC, the Folger Shakespeare Library allowed me to view numerous early seventeenth century prints, including early editions of Hollar‟s Theatrum Mullierum and Ornatus Muliebris Anglicanus. The National Gallery of Art graciously permitted me access to their excellent collection of prints by the master, Jacques vii Callot, as well as those of my choosing by Abraham Bosse. In New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art Print Room staff on numerous occasions offered access to their fine collection of late seventeenth-century French fashion prints. At The Morgan Library and Museum, I am especially indebted to Inge Dupont, who allowed me on numerous visits to examine their unique collection. It was at this collection that I was privileged to see a magnificent group of French “dressed” prints, as well as many rare editions of illuminated seventeenth-century fashion prints.