Napoleonic Collection (page 5)

Preparing for a masked ball, 1800s
Preparations for a masquerade. We no longer see harlequins and pierrots at masked balls, but instead costumes of Switzerland and Normandy

Two merveilleuses with a fortune teller
Their credulity is her only science. A fortune teller reads the cards for two credulous merveilleuses in shawls and turbans

Two pretty maids helping to dress two old crones
La toilette: Two young women help older women with baby bonnets and false bosoms - while giving knowing looks to the viewer. Women of 19 and 20 are in open war with women of a certain age (30)

Merveilleuses eating ice cream at a Paris cafe
Fashionable women or merveilleuses eating ice cream with their dogs at a cafe, circa 1800. The menu includes lemon, orange, pistachio, and creme blanche

Mother playing with baby and daughter in a garden
A young mother dandles a baby, while a little girl with a doll leans against her lap. A glance at these engravings is enough to see what one can say about this subject

Performing dogs
A gentleman with a whip controls four dogs dancing on their hind legs dressed in the latest fashions on stage. The dog show continues to attract crowds at the Theatre Montansier in Versailles

New Years Gifts
A boy in dragoon uniform scrabbles for sweets under his fathers legs, while a baby plays with a puppet on his mothers lap. A black servant boy prays for a gift at left

Shop girls preparing for bed. Wearing turbans, shawls and lowcut cotton nightshifts, four shopgirls relax before bed. Handcoloured engraving from Pierre de la Mesangeres Le Bon Genre, Paris, 1817

Cavalcade at Longchamp racetrack
Cavalcade de Longchamp. Two incroyables (fops) mounted on heavy dray horses instead of thoroughbreds at Longchamp racetrack

Two May-September couples dancing at a ball
Two May-September couples at a ball. The old and ugly partners have arranged the company of two young, good-looking escorts, who flirt with each other

The problem with Capote bonnets: two womens deep-brimmed bonnets collide as they greet each other, while fashionable men watch

Fashionable couples dancing La Sauteuse
Fashionable couples dancing la Sauteuse, a pair dance popular circa 1800. The man grips the woman around the waist, while jumping from foot to foot and spinning her around

Two incroyables (fops) with cudgels hinder the promenade of two merveilleuses by pinning the tails of their dresses. One looks back coquettishly at the ridiculous dandy

Fashionable dancers performing La Trenis, a country dance section in the popular quadrille created by the French dance master Trenitz

Three Parisian graces, circa 1800. Three unattractive maids wear the latest Paris fashions. Its certainly true that in fashion a servile herd of imitators abounds

Merveilleuses playing the game of blind mans buff. A blindfolded woman runs in a garden as one woman strokes her hand and another grabs her muslin dress

Merveilleuses playing the four corners game of tag
The four corners game of tag. Five merveilleuses in muslin dresses play the game of four corners, a version of tag. Illustration by Dominique Bosio

Merveilleuses playing the game of La Main Chaude
La main chaude or Paumele. Merveilleuses in flimsy muslin dresses play the game of hot hands. One girl buries her head in anothers lap, and has to guess which friend slaps her arm

French and English women in similar fashions
Mutual borrowing of fashions between French and English women, early 19th century. Both wear identical style bonnets, frilled dresses, shawls and spencer jackets

Merveilleuses playing badminton in a garden
Badminton. Merveilleuse in flimsy dresses play a game of badminton in a garden. Several have their hair in the fashionable short cut known as the martyr or victime

Three girls in mid-calf length dresses and pantalons dancing with a shawl. Handcoloured engraving from Pierre de la Mesangeres Le Bon Genre, Paris, 1817

Ladies and gentlemen share coffee and rolls
Le Dejeuner. Gentlemen in coat tails and breeches and ladies in veils and dresses share a breakfast of coffee and bread. Great familiarity reigns in the morning, one has no time to become ceremonial

Merveilleuses and incroyables dancing the waltz, a newly popular dance imported from Germany. Handcoloured engraving from Pierre de la Mesangeres Le Bon Genre, Paris, 1817

Street entertainer performing on a horn and violin. After removing his huge glasses from his nose, the old geezer blows on his horn (sarbacane) and plays the violin, grimacing all the time

Bride examining the contents of her marriage basket. Her bridesmaids show her lace, jewelry, diaments and finery. Handcoloured engraving from Pierre de la Mesangeres Le Bon Genre, Paris, 1817

Jacques de Falaise, street entertainer who ate anything. He is shown eating a live mouse, holding a snake, while an assistant receives a dagger and rose from the audience

English fashions and military uniforms, 1815. One woman on the right wears French-influenced fashions, while talking with a hussar and dragoon

French fashions and English uniforms, 1815. Two French courtesans in white frilled dresses are approached by English soldiers, dragoons and hussars

Flower-mania. Woman with as many flowers on her dress and hair as there are in the basket and vase near her. The ridiculous abundance of every kind of flowers on the dress

Old woman trying on a pink bonnet in a shop, circa 1815
Old woman trying on a pink bonnet in front of three young shopgirls, Women appear to have sworn to lie about youth up to their last breath

Caricature of English costumes, circa 1815. Men with flowerpot hats, long coats and trousers worn over boots, women in shawls with tassles

Caricature of French and English costumes, circa 1815. The small size of English ladies hats, the excessive length of their bodices and mean cut of their dresses contrast with our Parisian fashions

Caricature of English costumes, circa 1814. Men and women in ill-fitting, badly shaped dresses, hats and coats. Handcoloured engraving from Pierre de la Mesangeres Le Bon Genre, Paris, 1817

Three fashionable women in bonnets with tall floral displays, holding a green shawl to form a living fruit basket. Handcoloured engraving from Pierre de la Mesangeres Le Bon Genre, Paris, 1817

English military uniforms, Napoleonic era
Caricature of English military uniforms, Napoleonic era, Hussar with flared trousers worn over calf-high boots. Handcoloured engraving from Pierre de la Mesangeres Le Bon Genre, Paris, 1817

Caricature of English fashions in Paris, 1814. Man in flowerpot hat, women in bottle-shaped gowns. Handcoloured engraving from Pierre de la Mesangeres Le Bon Genre, Paris, 1817

Caricature of English fashion
Caricature of English costumes. A group of tourists from England on a trip to Paris: the men in flowerpot and stovepipe hats, ill-fitting riding coats and breeches, women in tight bodice dresses

Hairdresser on stilts pulling a womans hair to the ceiling
One must suffer for beauty. A hairdresser on stilts pulls a womans hair to the ceiling in the Chinese style. The hairstyle a la Chinoise is definitely a major makeover

Woman in muslin dress with fichu wimple, and perkale skirt
Woman in a muslin dress with frills, fichu wimple, and perkale skirt. The headdress is an accessory, and its height should never equal the length of the face

Man in long carrick coat with five pelerines or capes. Our young men shorten their jackets but lengthen their coats. The coat is long, heavy and awkward

Woman in vol-au-vent bonnet and dress with
Woman in vol-au-vent bonnet, scarf, dress with transparent sleeves and brodequin bootees. A strict casuist might find something reprehensible with this bodice

Woman in dress with spiral sleeves, ruffs and flounces
Woman with spiral sleeves, profuse ruffs and flounces, kerchief key-holder. When one talks of flounces, refer back to the reign of Louis XV, and look at the portrait of your grandmother

Young man in chenille yarn jacket, cravat, gloves, trousers, top hat and stick. When fashions appear strange or embarrassing, I recall the hammer wigs, wide-sleeve coats, arabesque embroidery

Man with round bowler hat and whip
Man with round bowler hat, green jacket, waistcoat, cravat, breeches, whip and pink-striped stockings. When fashions appear strange or embarrassing, I recall the hammer wigs, wide-sleeve coats

Fashionable people playing the parlour game
Fashionable men and women playing the parlour game called the Statue. When one is condemned to be the statue, she is placed in the centre of the room

Three graces in trousers. Three girls in turbans, dresses with frills that reach the mid-calf length and frilled pantalons or trousers. There is something strange about this costume

Parisiennes relaxing at Montmorency, a suburb of Paris. A woman sits in a swing beneath a tree, while another picks cherries

Chatham naval barracks and William Congreves rockets for the British military used in the Napoleonic Wars from 1804. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Verico from Giulio Ferrarios Costumes

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