Figure 19.—Lady in informal winter attire walks to her coach wearing a flowered gold-brocaded gown which has been caught back to show her embroidered petticoat bordered with ermine. She wears a black coif so that her hair will not be disarranged. Issued with the Mercure Galant, 1678. (Author’s collection.)
The fashions for the winter 1677-78 ([figs. 16-19]) may be followed in the pages of the Mercure Galant, but, since these four fashion plates were also distributed separately, their connection with it has often been overlooked. The same is true of the large engraving of the interior of a milliner’s shop (fig. 20), the items in which were numbered and described in the text of
the Mercure Galant. Donneau de Visé depended on trade support and took the opportunity to mention names wherever he could. The new fabrics displayed below the shelves are distinguished by letters; the one on the right (letter M), for example, is an Italian yellow satin brocaded with white and violet. Other small figured fabrics, he wrote, might be obtained away from the Palais “chez le Sieur Baroy, au Cloître Saint Opportune,” and ribbons might be found from Sieur le Gras in the Palais itself. The editor de Visé gives thanks to M. Bérain (1637-1711), designateur ordinaire du Cabinet du Roy, and to M. Lepautre (1618-82) for engraving the plates.
Figure 20.—Interior of a Parisian milliner’s shop. On display are accessories to men’s fashionable costume—breeches, scarves, gloves, and wigs. Detail from an engraving by J. Lepautre after J. Bérain. Reengraved from a small print in the Extraordinaire issue of the Mercure Galant, March 1678. (Author’s collection.)
The summer fashions for 1678 were illustrated in the next Extraordinaire number published on July 20 and represented by a gentleman (fig. 21) and his lady ([fig. 22]). Details of these plates are poor, and, although they are taken from the Dutch edition, the
original designer and engraver must have been far less competent than either Bérain or Lepautre.